Completing a three-peat is a rare occurrence in professional sports. The Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers have done it. The Green Bay Packers completed the test. However, many teams have tried and failed at achieving the fete. The Miami Heat are currently trying to be the next team to win a championship three years in a row and struggling lately with consistency is not helping. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol know how they feel.
Gasol and Bryant understand exactly what LeBron James and company are trying to accomplish this season. The Lakers won 57 games through 2010-11 even with a stretch of going 31-12 in 43 games. That is the issue the Heat are having right now as injuries and pressure have hurt in recent weeks. They recently lost three-straight games, giving up at least 100 points a night. The Lakers dropped five in April of that season.
"We were in the exact same position," Gasol said, via Bleacher Report. "It's not easy to sustain that motivation, that energy, that edge. Especially when you start getting injuries from guys who have gone through long runs consecutively."
Injuries are becoming the issue for Miami. Head coach Erik Spoelstra has been attempting to limit minutes of players like Dwyane Wade and Greg Oden, but that is hurting play on the court. James even admitted that the constant changing of the lineup has made things very difficult in recent weeks and he is starting to get worried of long-term issues. Gasol had the same feelings.
"The body also feels it, and it's a difficult position to be in," Gasol said. "It's a great position to be in, but at the same time you start seeing maybe cracks here and there, and those cracks can open up later on. But every team and every situation is a little different, so I don't know exactly how they're doing internally."
Bryant said the biggest key to winning three-straight championships is maintaining the competitive spirit needed every night in a game. Expecting to win is simply not enough, the Heat must want to win every night and fight for it. Mental fatigue can start to take over and getting past that is the hardest part.
"Having a competitive spirit night after night is very, very tough to do, for three championships in a row, four Finals in a row," Bryant said. "It's tough, it's tough to get guys going. The most important thing is being ready when the time is right. You got to make sure you have everybody healthy and make sure your competitive spirit is ready to go when the playoffs come around. That's really the most important time."
This is the issue that James and company could be facing. The reigning NBA MVP acknowledged that the Heat get every team's best performance and trying to top that has been tough over the past few seasons. Bryant praised his All-Star friend for his effort in keeping the team together. Time will tell if it pays off.
"LeBron has been doing a fantastic job of keeping the guys going with his own energy," Bryant said. "That's his responsibility, is to keep guys engaged. Then the time rolls around, hopefully the other guys will get charged up and ready to go as they move into the playoffs."
