Two games until the playoffs, and it's not too early to consider the Heat's challenge. Because they'll not just play an ascending Philadelphia 76ers team, as standings and seedings now suggest.
They'll also be asked to save civilization, preserve the Republic, maintain precious world order and stop the general state of mankind from a swift descent into nihilism.
There's no gray area here. Philadelphia is a contagion unleashed on the sports world. Its philosophy of losing, of striving to lose, of hyper-tanking for years and years to possibly breed a winner, is the downfall of sports' natural order, as we know it.
At least if they now win.
And even more zombie franchises mimic them.
This concept of Creeping Sam Hinkie-ism, to name Philadelphia's former architect, sounds interesting as an intellectual exercise you're kicking around as an idea over a few beers in your backyard.
Lose, and keep losing, to gather high draft picks and build a winner. That's the full idea. It takes no brains. No creativeness. No discipline other than embracing the pain. And it's taking over the sports world.
Sure, one year of losing, of tanking, is acceptable. Most teams have done it. Even the Heat. It's how they drafted Dwyane Wade.
"That season is miserable," Heat president Pat Riley once said. "And if you do it three or four years in a row to get lottery picks, then I'm in an insane asylum. And the fans will be, too. So who wants that?"
The Cleveland Browns. The Orlando Magic. The Chicago Bulls. There's a long list of teams with this losing mentality, including the Marlins, because baseball is infected almost beyond repair.
Look at the Marlins division. Atlanta, Philadelphia and the Marlins are all in the various stages of a five-year tank job. Washington and the New York Mets aren't just the only teams contending for the title. They're the only ones that want it.
"Trust the process," became the slogan for the Philadelphia 76ers.
"Come back in five years," is the hope.
It can work. The Houston Astros won a World Series. Coupled with the fact baseball has no salary cap and low-budget teams can't spend like the handful of top teams, it's tempting for some teams to follow.
In basketball, one player can change a franchise. Philadelphia has drafted two certified stars in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. It also drafted others high that didn't work: Michael Carter-Williams, Jahlil Okafor and, through one year, top pick Markelle Fultz.
But for every Houston and (maybe) Philadelphia, there's a group of other teams trying to do the same. And losing. The Browns are the most embarrassing example. They've been purposely losing in pro football since 2013 to gain high draft picks.
New England, Green Bay and Pittsburgh haven't drafted high in the NFL this millennium. They keep getting good players, keep building winning seasons and continue being the gold standard of the sport.
Why? Because they're smarter. They're more visionary. That's what you want winning teams to be in sports. Not simply awful.
Riley is so vexed by serial tanking in the NBA he floated an odd plan to counter it: A playoff for the 14 lottery teams. The team that won would be given the top pick.
In other words, teams couldn't tank the last two months because they'd need to maintain a sense of winning to get the top pick. But then Riley is a dinosaur in sports, a leader who wants to win every year out.
That's why the Heat are admirable. They win titles in their best years and (usually) don't throw away seasons in their worst years. Then again, Riley is the anti-Hinkie.
He brought GQ to the NBA sideline with his panache and haberdashery, even matching belt buckles to his championship rings. Hinkie's wardrobe consisted of 25 blue blazers, all size 40 regular, so as to sidestep executive, "decision fatigue."
Hinkie was forced out of Philadelphia at the end of the 2016 season, showing the pain in losing. But his Frankenstein is up and winning enough for a third seed with three games left. The Heat have the sixth seed almost sealed.
The matchup is almost set. Sure, the odds will be against the Heat. But truth, justice and the American Way will be for them.
