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The Orlando Magic Rivalry That Matters: The Miami Heat

The idea of a NBA rivalry has changed a lot in recent years.

The old heads on TNT will likely complain that players are too chummy these days — a product of their upbringing in the AAU All-Star circuit perhaps — and that player animosity is too low to create the “real” rivalries they grew up in.

The league itself has changed with how teams strategize and grow toward a championship. The advent of tanking and the “all-or-nothing” approach to winning has diluted championships. Even the growth of the Golden State Warriors and their dominance over the league has changed the nature of rivalries.