I think you are misunderstanding. I am not saying they didn't have culture. Nor am I saying you need rings to have culture. Literally every team has a culture. But for your culture to be viewed and discussed like the Heat's is...you gotta have hardware. If a Magic fan started trying to compare their culture to the Heat's the first thing outta your mouth would be chips breh . Football to basketball isn't an apples to apples comp but Dan Campbell was outright mocked and people questioned his qualifications as a coach until the Lions became legit championship contenders. Now everybody screaming GRIT. Heat Culture is akin to The Patriot Way. Never heard of a Cardinals Way or a Bills Way. And if you did it would get . Every team obviously has a way that they do things though.So if I was using football as an example, you would say Dan Campbell has not changed the culture of the Detroit Lions - in fact, they don't have a culture period because they dont have any hardware (yet) right? I want to make sure I'm following this correctly.
You're hung up on a word. The Grizzlies were known for years for what? Grit n Grind, that was their identity, their culture. It didn't have to be validated by a championship.