Before calling Finals, ABC’s Jeff Van Gundy, Jackson weigh in on Heat, what Miami has done

ESPN/ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy said if the Heat can beat Denver, “It will be the most unlikely champion I can remember” and called Erik Spoelstra “the best coach” in Heat history.

“If they end up winning a championship, it will be the most unlikely champion that I can remember,” Van Gundy said Tuesday in a conference call previewing ABC’s coverage of the Finals.

“They will have beaten teams with the top two records in the NBA. They will then have beaten the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference in this playoff run. The journey has been right through the heart of greatness. That they’ve been able to answer the bell, everyone deserves an incredible amount of credit. I love their team toughness — both mental and physical.

“I’m watching Kyle Lowry, who is obviously not the same player he once was in Toronto. He is one of the great competitors I’ve witnessed in the NBA: tough, physical and then the mental strength to know he may be on the back nine but you can still contribute to winning and not pouting about what you used to be but still contributing for what you are. It doesn’t happen with every player. That someone like him can gracefully accept a new role and put everything he has into it, I have great admiration for that...

“They were 3:45 from not qualifying from the playoffs and being labeled a disappointment. Instead, they’ve… gone on this tremendous run.”

Has Heat talent been underestimated?

“As much as it’s a talent game, it’s a habit game,” Van Gundy said. “We often times skirt over the talent of players and move directly to those things we can look at and we can see .. Anybody denigrating the talents of the Heat players is making a mistake. They are overlooking the habits that have been formed that make these players — Jimmy Butler said they’re not role players — they’re exceptional players.

“You don’t get to where they’ve gotten to, earning the minutes they’ve earned, perform how they’ve performed and not have tremendous talent…. People that have said adamantly that this is not a talented team, or they couldn’t win Game 7, I don’t think understand the habits of some of those tremendous Heat players.”

The Heat and the 1999 Knicks, coached by Van Gundy, are the only eighth seeds to make an NBA Finals.

Van Gundy said the “one similarity” between those teams, “is injury impacted the regular-season record. The quality of team at the eighth seed — our year in 1999 and Miami right now — would have been a much higher seed. Miami, having to beat the two teams with the best record in the NBA, is an incredible accomplishment. We beat two great teams in Miami and Indiana.

“We beat Atlanta, who was a bit wounded when we played them. Just as Miami got a break with Giannis [Antetokounmpo] being hurt, we got a break when Atlanta players weren’t feeling their best. People say it’s a player’s league because it’s true. You don’t advance without great players. You have to be highly, highly skilled. You have to have a toughness and intelligence. Our team in 1999 and Miami’s team share that as well; it’s all about great players who have great toughness and great intelligence.”

What has surprised Jackson about this Heat team?

“Any time a team suffers injuries that they suffered — and sustain their level of play,” Jackson said. “No matter what the team looked like, losing key players, I wouldn’t pick that team to wind up as one of the last two standing. It says a lot about their competitive spirit, culture, Pat Riley and the job Erik Spoelstra continues to do at an all time elite level and says a lot about the guys in uniform.”

Van Gundy and Jackson addressed other issues on the series, which they will call with Mike Breen beginning Thursday, with all games starting at 8:30 p.m. and airing on ABC:

▪ Van Gundy said of Spoelstra, who is coaching his sixth Finals team in 15 years: “The thing that stands out to me is their habits. Year to year, they do a tremendous job of going back to a [Bill] Belichickian statement, if you want a tough smart team, go out and find tough smart players. Then they work with those players and envision” and craft a role to maximize them.

“To go to the Finals four years with [Dwyane] Wade, [LeBron] James and [Chris] Bosh, then take a bubble team with Butler as your best player to the Finals and now take [this team]. They should be thought of as a seventh seed, because that’s what they were until they lost [the play-in to Atlanta]. Would they have had the same path if they had Boston in the first round? I’ve thought about that a lot. Would Boston have been better equipped to have beaten that?

“I marvel what they’ve been able to do. None of that is possible if you don’t have the continuity. One thing the [Heat and Spurs have] that very few teams want to do is have continuity at the coaching position. He’s in an unbelievable situation that very few are able to do anymore. He’s the best coach in Miami Heat history, obviously. I marvel at what he’s been able to accomplish.”

Jackson said Spoelstra “has the unwavering support of ownership and management, and the ability of Pat Riley to hand pick Erik Spoelstra. He saw something. It was an incredible job by Pat Riley.

“What Erik Spoelstra has done through the peaks and valleys... Being consistent as a leader, as a worker, as a motivator, has been inspiring for anyone across sports, not just basketball. It’s a crime to say, he’s underrated. It’s great to see him back in the Finals and being recognized as the best in the business.”

▪ Van Gundy, asked about Boston losing as a No. 2 seed, said: “The idea you can’t get beat by a lower seed is ludicrous. The fine line between teams in our league is razor thin.... Riley and Gregg Popovich lost to lower seeds four times in their career.”

▪ Could TV ratings suffer in this series without the Lakers, Warriors or Celtics?

“We’re about to see,” Van Gundy said. “I hope it’s a resounding success and a celebration of two teams that did a tremendous job navigating their playoff runs. Even if it’s not the most highly rated Finals - and I don’t know if it will be or will not be - it still speaks well about the league.

“People.. are going to be drawn more in as the years go on to watch [Nikola Jokic’s] greatness. If you’re not clued into Bam Adebayo and the versatility of his game, you will be after watching this.

Van Gundy said while the ratings might not be at the high end “because people don’t know the competitors as well, it will be very well received…. Miami has been darn good for a long time.”

▪ Asked if it’s an indictment of Chicago, Minnesota and Philadelphia that they couldn’t win big with Butler, Van Gundy said: “I don’t think it’s a bad reflection on them at all. Players utilize their power in different ways”

Jackson said: “Jimmy has found a home and he’s flourishing in that home.”

▪ Jackson previously apologized for accidentally leaving Jokic completely off his MVP ballot. Voters listed five names, and Jackson said omitting Jokic was an oversight, not intentional. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid won the award; Jokic was second in voting.

In the aftermath of that, “I’ve had no issues at all and I don’t expect any, except for one or two fans during the Western Conference finals,” Jackson said. “Of the two men, one apologized on the way out. I understand the quick comments, slick comments. I’m fine with that. There’s nothing but love and appreciation.”

But Van Gundy said: “Some of those fans were clowns at the game.”