Elevating Historical Status and Immense Influence

The 2013–14 Finals began on June 5 and were over after just eight short days.

Without a doubt, this Finals series ended surprisingly quickly. Who could have imagined that the Miami Heat, with their Big Three, would fail to win even a single game in the Finals?

When Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh announced that they would join forces on South Beach, people said the Heat would win at least eight championships.

And the result? The Miami Heat made the Finals for four straight years, yet won only one championship, with a Finals win rate of just 25%.

That was hardly a dominant record.

Some said it was because the Heat had run into the even more dominant Grizzlies.

Just how difficult was this Grizzlies championship? First of all, they became the sixth team in NBA history to win back-to-back titles.

Back-to-back championships might have seemed fairly common. The Lakers had done it just four years earlier. But on closer inspection, only the Lakers, Celtics, Pistons, Rockets, and Bulls had ever managed it before.

Even the San Antonio Spurs, who won three titles in five years, had never once repeated as champions.

Now, the Memphis Grizzlies had officially joined the ranks of back-to-back champions. This small-market team that had barely registered a presence just a few years ago had undoubtedly entered the conversation among the greatest teams in the league.

Beyond the Memphis Grizzlies, Link had undoubtedly elevated his historical standing and influence tremendously through this championship.

When he won his first championship last year, people might have said he had simply gotten lucky. After all, NBA history was full of players and teams who won one title, only to immediately fade away.

But Link's championship this year was far from simple. After winning the NBA Finals MVP