Monday night in Miami, the Miami Heat defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 108-107.

The first teams to play on the new court were James and the Los Angeles Lakers, who were in Miami for their yearly Monday night game. The Heat want to use the new floor and the uniforms with “Culture” across the front multiple times during the season as part of their main marketing campaign for 2023–24.

When questioned about the court and his four seasons with Miami, which resulted in four visits to the NBA Finals and the first two of his four NBA titles, James went down memory lane on Monday. “Culture” wasn’t even emblazoned on jerseys back then; it was a Heat ideology and phrase back then.

James stated, “We didn’t really talk about it too much.” “All you had to do was come in and work, and the outcome would be evident on the floor based on how much effort you put in.”

Riley has spent almost thirty years developing and fostering the Miami team that is known as the “toughest, meanest, nastiest team in the NBA.” This motto serves as the foundation of the franchise.

Regarding the “culture” credo, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra remarked, “You know, I think everybody on the outside, they probably hear it so much, they’re probably tired of hearing about it.” But we’re not bothered. You must have a cause, and that is what we support.

The Heat managed to recruit James and Chris Bosh to Miami to play alongside Dwyane Wade during the summer of 2010. One of the league’s youngest coaches at the time, Spoelstra is still in charge of the Heat; with two years left on his contract, he is the NBA’s longest active coach, behind Gregg Popovich of San Antonio.

According to James, this is the culture of Miami, the way Riley, Spoelstra, general manager Andy Elisburg, managing general partner Micky Arison, and many other high-ranking officials lived there long before he did.

James remarked, “I think the only teams you can say have the same stability as the Miami Heat are San Antonio, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the New England Patriots.”

James continues to perceive similarities in Riley’s and his own thought processes.

James remarked, “Riles always talked keeping the main thing the main thing.” And for me, that’s always been the case.

Cleveland was home to James for his first seven NBA seasons. In 2014, he moved back to Cleveland from Miami, where he won a championship in 2016. Currently, he is in his sixth season with the Lakers. In addition to surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer last season and becoming the oldest active player in the league, he won a title there in 2020 against Miami in the bubble.

“When I arrived here, I was 25 years old. I was seven years old, yet I was still a child. After Monday’s shootaround in the Heat arena, where his number will eventually be retired, James remarked, “I’m still a kid.” “I came here with the sole intention of winning titles. That was my sole objective. I only hooked up with D-Wade and Bosh because I didn’t think I could succeed in Cleveland for that reason. I made several attempts to get individuals to come to Cleveland and to go upstairs and assist, but nothing was working. I took advantage of my opportunity to be a free agent by acting in the way that I felt would further my career.