Should the Miami Heat fail to win an NBA championship this season, it will not actually be a failure.
By the way, that's not how I, or most NBA fans, feel, but those are the thoughts of the man himself, LeBron James.
As the Heat get ready to open the playoffs against the New York Knicks, LeBron has a more comfortable word to describe what would be a Heat washout.
"The season won't be a failure," James told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "You put too much work into a season to automatically call it a failure, but it would be a disappointment. This is our goal. This is what we've come together for. A failure is a strong word. We commit ourselves and we dedicate our season, we work hard every day and to automatically say it's a failure, I think that's a big word. But I think it'd be a disappointment, because that's what you work hard for every day."
Dwyane Wade, though, disagrees with James when asked if this Heat season would a failure without the title.
"I say yes," Wade said. "There's only one champion. It's a failure for every other team. If you don't win a championship, you had a failed year."
Regardless of whether this postseason run turns into a misadventure, like the NBA Finals loss to the Mavericks last year, has yet to be determined, it's a safe bet LeBron will hear a lot more of the "F" word until he gets a ring.
-- Follow Ben Maller on Twitter @BenMaller.
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