Please explain how my primary statement is false.
Here are the payrolls for the top seven NBA teams this season:
http://hoopshype.com/salaries/1. Cleveland $128,492,467 $125,214,676 $125,639,481 $81,144,582 $0
2. Portland $119,732,234 $137,343,153 $119,918,760 $116,763,587 $60,981,105
3. LA Clippers $114,756,766 $108,406,193 $57,403,025 $0 $0
4. San Antonio $112,017,779 $90,023,910 $52,445,203 $21,329,750 $0
5. Memphis $110,118,520 $92,188,766 $83,251,936 $83,209,835 $34,502,130
6. Toronto $108,335,030 $77,356,147 $67,624,301 $45,357,951 $27,739,975
7. Golden State $107,526,542 $65,282,124 $36,458,290 $18,539,130 $0
With regard to my second statement, Miami was favored in 2011 against the Mavericks and 2013 against the Spurs. Moreover, Miami should have been favored against OKC in 2012 because they were the better team. I'm also not sure why the Heat weren't favored in 2014 against the Spurs.
Finally, LeBron has been the de facto gm of the Cavs since rejoining them and built the Cavs teams that have lost two of the last three NBA Championships. As a result, LeBron isn't entitled to any sympathy for the fact that the Cavs teams he built may have been the underdogs in those NBA Championships.