Micky Arison Calls Back To LeBron James' Famous "Not 1, Not 2" Championship Pronouncement During HOF Enshrinement

It has been 15 years since Micky Arison heard LeBron James declaring to the world that the Miami Heat would win an inordinate number of NBA titles. As Arison arrived at the pinnacle of his career as an NBA executive, he couldn't resist calling back to that moment.

After being welcomed into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this past Saturday, Arison retraced the steps that led to the Heat becoming a multi-titled franchise. When the Heat owner got to the chapter on the early 2010s, he seized his chance.

"In 2010, with Dwyane, LeBron, and Chris Bosh, we knew we could win...not one, not two," Arison said. Then, after a well-timed pause, he added, "Well, I guess it was just two."

As Arison dropped his punchline, the camera panned to James and Bosh, who were both wearing sheepish grins after being name-dropped by their former team owner.

The arrival of James and Bosh signalled the start of a “superteam” era for Miami back in 2010. Right away, NBA teams scrambled to figure out how to contain the peak athleticism and skill level of the two newly acquired Heat stars, along with Miami’s homegrown talent Dwyane Wade.

In their first season together, the Heat’s “Big Three” led the team to a 58-24 record. Miami made it all the way to the NBA Finals, but lost to a Dirk Nowitzki-led Dallas Mavericks squad. This setback would then be followed by two years on the summit of the league, as the Heat won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.

These would be the second and third championships tallied by Miami during the ownership regime of Arison, whose Carnival Corporation is one of the leading cruise brands worldwide. The very first title won in the Arison era (and, as a matter of fact, the first NBA championship in the history of the Heat franchise) came in 2006, when Wade teamed up with Shaquille O’Neal. That year, the Heat overcame a 0-2 deficit in the NBA Finals to clinch the series in six.

All these championship victories have helped Arison ascend into the status of Hall of Fame inductee. As for James, Wade, and Bosh, they may not have won a boatload of NBA championships, but their legacy as winners has been cemented.