PODCAST: Heat No Longer a “Big Three,” Spurs Now a “Big Four”

One of the obvious takeaways from the 2014 NBA Finals was that the San Antonio Spurs clearly have more good players than the Miami Heat.

When the series began, it appeared to be a showdown of each team’s “Big Three” – Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker for the Spurs and LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh for the Heat.

But as the Finals progressed, the talent gap separating the teams became evident. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich trusted his bench, while Heat coach Erik Spoelstra buried his.

Nowhere was this more evident than in Kawhi Leonard being named Finals MVP. Leonard had never scored 20-plus points in three straight contests until the last three games of the Finals and became the first non-All-Star to win Finals MVP since Detroit’s Chauncey Billups in 2004.

Meanwhile, James was a one-man team by the end of the series. The inconsistencies of Wade and Bosh and the utter disappearances of Mario Chalmers, Ray Allen and Chris Andersen had the Heat playing 1-on-5 for much of the Finals.

In this interview with Tony D of Yahoo Sports Radio conducted within an hour of the final buzzer Sunday night, managing editor Chris Bernucca talks about San Antonio’s unorthodox style of incorporating all five players in its offense, which is not the norm in the NBA but could become the model for contenders.

Bernucca also looks at the long-term future of the Spurs, who despite their aging stars face less questions than the Heat, who have a huge dilemma with Wade, an icon in Miami, and may be facing the end of an era.

Click on the box below to give a listen.