MIAMI _ The natural, if not irrational, comparison was to the start of LeBron James' previous two championship quests.
It was that flawed thinking that makes the Los Angeles Lakers' 2018-19 failings seem even worse, a team whose record ultimately reflects the roster beyond LeBron.
At the start with the Miami Heat in 2010, there also were Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
At the restart with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, there were Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
The second best player on this season's Lakers roster is? (Waiting ... still waiting.) The third? (Silence.)
For all the debate of whether LeBron should have been Most Valuable Player each of the past eight seasons, based on the heavy lifting to those consecutive NBA Finals with the Heat and Cavaliers, there was considerably more alongside.
Even if it meant starting off with the hands of Joel Anthony.
And finishing with the mind of J.R. Smith.
Among the reasons for the second escape from the Cavaliers (but clearly not the primary reason) was the lack of a reliable support system.
Instead, waiting at the start of Lakers training camp were Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley, JaVale McGee ... and a Western Conference schedule unlike anything he faced over the first 82 in any of the previous 15 seasons.
Even at the start in Miami, the one that opened with the Finals demise against the Dallas Mavericks and led to an offseason of criticism, the Heat were far better positioned for a younger LeBron than what the Lakers offered this season.
"There's no similarities," former NBA Heat guard Eddie House said on the CBS Sports radio show hosted by Bill Reiter, who was Fox Sport's correspondent for the Heat's Big Three seasons. "If you look at the team that was assembled there, even though we fell short of the goal, it was a veteran team, a bunch of winners on that team, guys that had been in the league and seen everything. Then bringing those three together, LeBron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh."
House, in his second tenure with the Heat, returned in 2010 after winning a 2008 championship with the Boston Celtics.
He knew that Heat team, at worst, was positioned for a deep playoff run.
"I'm not saying some of those guys can't end up being those guys," House said of a current Lakers roster that features Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram. "I'm just saying, as of right now in their career, they're not ready for that.
"This is all the making of it, though. This is when you're going to see guys _ either they're going to take that step forward and start moving in the direction that is going to be conducive to the Lakers and LeBron winning, or they're not going to be a part of it moving forward."
The Heat churned their roster after that 2011 NBA Finals humbling. Gone after 2010-11 were Mike Bibby, Erick Dampier, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Jamal Magloire and House. Added to the mix the following season were Shane Battier, Norris Cole and Rony Turiaf.
It was a churn that would continue through the four years of LeBron's Heat tenure, with Pat Riley constantly evolving the roster.
There also was a far sturdier foundation, just as LeBron had in Cleveland with Love and Irving. And there also was a sturdier LeBron than there has been this injury-plagued season.
"Very rarely have you ever seen one of LeBron's teams struggle the way they have," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said before beating LeBron and the Lakers on Wednesday night. "A lot goes into it. The injuries that they've had. It's not easy.
"They got LeBron, then they grabbed a bunch of guys on one-year deals, 'Let's try to put this together,' and that's hard."
The success from what LeBron experienced in the East never has appeared more distant.
Such is life when there is such limited proximity to a championship-level support system.
