- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 431,004
- Reaction score
- 44
CLEVELAND — As the NBA coaching carousel spun in recent weeks and respected leaders, leaders with championship resumes, were pushed out, a recurrent theme was an inability to connect with the locker room. So out went Michael Malone in Denver and Mike Budenholzer in Phoenix.
All the while, quite the opposite was playing out in the Heat locker room. Even as losses mounted, as postseason hopes were reduced to the thinnest of margins, Erik Spoelstra repeatedly spoke of a desire of nothing more than to see his roster coalesce, of the joy his players deserved because of their perseverance.
Often, the comments were coded, yet nonetheless clear: Jimmy Butler had polluted his locker room with the toxic desire to be elsewhere.
But since that Feb. 6 trade with the Warriors, since moving Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson and Friday night play-in hero Davion Mitchell into the mix, the touchstone of Spoelstra’s entire focus had been to get good people into a better place.
As awkward as it might sound to some — from geographic and standings perspectives — that better place now is Cleveland, where the Heat’s best-of-seven opening-round playoff series against the East-best Cavaliers begins Sunday.
Hours before Friday night’s nerve-racking overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks, the victory that made the Heat the NBA’s first 10th-place team ever to make the playoffs, Spoelstra again addressed the subject of his affinity for his players.
Amid the tension of the day, it was a rare game-day moment when coaching was discussed on a level of caring.
“I’ve really respected and admired how this group has handled adversity, collectively, together, all of us — the coaching staff, the players and all the different departments,” he said at the morning shootaround, on the court where his players would celebrate hours later. “When you’re able to do that and embrace it, the lessons that you can get from it, it’s one of these things that like puts an imprint on everybody. Because I think it’s just too easy in today’s day and age and in professional sports, you face a little bit of adversity and you crumble. You see more often that happen and then this.
“It’s just a group that really has wanted to find a way to conquer these things and find a way to get better, find a way to help each other play better. These are the kind of groups that you want to do your best for.”
Then, about six hours later, Spoelstra was back at State Farm Arena, in the pregame interview room, this time 90 minutes before Friday night’s game, voicing similar sentiment.
“We’ve been through a lot. We’ve all been through probably as much as a team probably can go through,” Spoelstra said. “And I really commend the team for finding a way to embrace the adversity.
“There were some uncomfortable moments when we were losing games, but it was bringing us closer together, which I really respect out of that locker room. And then we started playing our best basketball at the end of the season, after that losing streak.”
That’s when the question was turned, made a bit more direct, introspective. with Spoelstra asked how the adversity, turmoil, desperation had impacted himself.
“I really enj…,” he said, stopping mid-word, as if catching himself in what he recognized few others could appreciate. “Well, I did, I found this season to be quite a challenge. I felt alive by the challenge. It was frustrating. And I think those are opportunities for the most growth, when you’re really just trying to figure things out.”
Then he circled back to his players.
“And then we have a locker that felt the same way about this,” he said. “So when I say it’s brought us closer together, it really has. It could have gone totally south. That would have been easy. But our guys have competitive character and they viewed it as a gift, the adversity as a gift, to grow and get better.”
Adversity as a gift.
If Davion Mitchell had not drained those three 3-pointers in overtime, if Tyler Herro had not added two more in that extra period against the Hawks, it would have been difficult to perceive the team’s turmoil as anything but torment.
But Mitchell did. And Herro did. And so there was Spoelstra back in front of microphones again, this time during Friday’s postgame interview session, as Friday was about to turn to Saturday.
Again, addressing adversity as a gift.
“What I really love about this group,” he said, “is the adversity that we all collectively experienced together, we all viewed it as a gift and it’s an amazing gift to be able to go through adversity and to be able to take on those lessons, those hard lessons to be able to try to improve and to have better growth, bigger opportunities.
“And I think tonight was an encapsulation of that.”
With that, off into the Atlanta night, off to Cleveland, remaining in lockstep with his players, savoring the gift of more time together, that 37-45 regular-season record and 10th-place finish hardly feeling like excess baggage.
HIGHLY UNLIKELY: When TNT on Sunday announces the three finalists for each of the NBA’s major awards during the pregame show for Heat-Cavaliers, expect the Heat to be where they spent much of the season in the standings — largely out of sight. Of the major categories, just about the only longshot to be named one of the three finalists in any category might be Tyler Herro for Most Improved Player. The Heat’s best chance for postseason honors would appear to be Kel’el Ware on one of the All-Rookie teams, perhaps Bam Adebayo on one of the All-Defensive teams, with Herro a longshot for third-team All-NBA.
THINKING MAN: For all that transpired between Jimmy Butler and the Heat, respect remains in at least one Heat quarter when it comes to Butler’s game smarts. Udonis Haslem, who holds a Heat front-office title, in his ESPN role this past week said that Butler’s basketball IQ trumps that of Haslem’s former Heat teammates Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. “I had this conversation with Dwyane Wade last night,” Haslem said during an ESPN appearance. “I told him to his face, ‘You are talented as hell, LeBron has been talented as hell, but (Butler) is way smarter than y’all.’ He is very smart. He is an extremely smart basketball player.” During an appearance on Wade’s podcast, Haslem said, “I tell people this all the time, I played defense on you, guarding you in practice. I played defense on ‘Bron. Everybody’s different, but Jimmy’s probably the smartest offensive player.” Butler and the Warriors open their first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
FALL GUY?: The clock appears to be ticking on former Heat forward James Jones in his role as Phoenix Suns general manager, with coach Mike Budenholzer dismissed, a lottery fate, and Kevin Durant seemingly with more than one foot out the door. Jones’ contract expires in June. Asked this past week about the roles of Jones, who has been in Phoenix’s front office since 2017, and CEO Josh Bartelstein, Suns owner Mat Ishbia would only offer, “There’s gonna be a lot of change. Here’s what I’ll say, Coach Bud, that change was made, that didn’t need more evaluation. Everything’s gonna be evaluated, but it’s gonna start with me being accountable and setting an identity, and then making sure that the identity we set for Phoenix Suns is set from the ownership. The fans are going to love it and be proud of it. The front office is aligned, the coaches are aligned, the players are aligned.”
STILL GOING: Why, yes, that is former Heat center Hassan Whiteside back in action in Puerto Rico with Cangrejeros de Santurce. No, not the highest level of competition, but the short spring league often lures former NBA players with the proximity and payday. Whiteside’s previous basketball action also had come in Puerto Rico, in 2023, when he averaged 22.2 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks, that season named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Also joining Whiteside’s Puerto Rico team is former Heat summer prospect Ian Clark.
33. Years since the Heat made the playoffs with a losing record. The only time the franchise had done it prior to the current pathway from 37-45 was in 1992, when a 38-44 finish under Kevin Loughery produced a first-round 3-0 loss to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. This season’s Heat is just the third team since 2010 to make the playoffs with a losing record, joining the 2011 Indiana Pacers (37-45) and the 2022 New Orlando Pelicans (36-46), with both of those teams losing in the first round.
Continue reading...
All the while, quite the opposite was playing out in the Heat locker room. Even as losses mounted, as postseason hopes were reduced to the thinnest of margins, Erik Spoelstra repeatedly spoke of a desire of nothing more than to see his roster coalesce, of the joy his players deserved because of their perseverance.
Often, the comments were coded, yet nonetheless clear: Jimmy Butler had polluted his locker room with the toxic desire to be elsewhere.
But since that Feb. 6 trade with the Warriors, since moving Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson and Friday night play-in hero Davion Mitchell into the mix, the touchstone of Spoelstra’s entire focus had been to get good people into a better place.
As awkward as it might sound to some — from geographic and standings perspectives — that better place now is Cleveland, where the Heat’s best-of-seven opening-round playoff series against the East-best Cavaliers begins Sunday.
Hours before Friday night’s nerve-racking overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks, the victory that made the Heat the NBA’s first 10th-place team ever to make the playoffs, Spoelstra again addressed the subject of his affinity for his players.
Amid the tension of the day, it was a rare game-day moment when coaching was discussed on a level of caring.
“I’ve really respected and admired how this group has handled adversity, collectively, together, all of us — the coaching staff, the players and all the different departments,” he said at the morning shootaround, on the court where his players would celebrate hours later. “When you’re able to do that and embrace it, the lessons that you can get from it, it’s one of these things that like puts an imprint on everybody. Because I think it’s just too easy in today’s day and age and in professional sports, you face a little bit of adversity and you crumble. You see more often that happen and then this.
“It’s just a group that really has wanted to find a way to conquer these things and find a way to get better, find a way to help each other play better. These are the kind of groups that you want to do your best for.”
Then, about six hours later, Spoelstra was back at State Farm Arena, in the pregame interview room, this time 90 minutes before Friday night’s game, voicing similar sentiment.
“We’ve been through a lot. We’ve all been through probably as much as a team probably can go through,” Spoelstra said. “And I really commend the team for finding a way to embrace the adversity.
“There were some uncomfortable moments when we were losing games, but it was bringing us closer together, which I really respect out of that locker room. And then we started playing our best basketball at the end of the season, after that losing streak.”
That’s when the question was turned, made a bit more direct, introspective. with Spoelstra asked how the adversity, turmoil, desperation had impacted himself.
“I really enj…,” he said, stopping mid-word, as if catching himself in what he recognized few others could appreciate. “Well, I did, I found this season to be quite a challenge. I felt alive by the challenge. It was frustrating. And I think those are opportunities for the most growth, when you’re really just trying to figure things out.”
Then he circled back to his players.
“And then we have a locker that felt the same way about this,” he said. “So when I say it’s brought us closer together, it really has. It could have gone totally south. That would have been easy. But our guys have competitive character and they viewed it as a gift, the adversity as a gift, to grow and get better.”
Adversity as a gift.
If Davion Mitchell had not drained those three 3-pointers in overtime, if Tyler Herro had not added two more in that extra period against the Hawks, it would have been difficult to perceive the team’s turmoil as anything but torment.
But Mitchell did. And Herro did. And so there was Spoelstra back in front of microphones again, this time during Friday’s postgame interview session, as Friday was about to turn to Saturday.
Again, addressing adversity as a gift.
Related Articles
- ASK IRA: Did Heat victory in Atlanta put a whole new spin on the Jimmy Butler trade?
- Dave Hyde: Davion Mitchell took over the night in Atlanta and told the Heat story
- Winderman’s view: One with meaning for the Heat, stepping up when needed
- Heat play-in rollercoaster leaves them with 123-114 OT victory over Hawks and playoff berth
- TNT’s Miller, Van Gundy address fallout of how Butler ‘pulled a grenade’ on Heat only to thrive with Warriors
“What I really love about this group,” he said, “is the adversity that we all collectively experienced together, we all viewed it as a gift and it’s an amazing gift to be able to go through adversity and to be able to take on those lessons, those hard lessons to be able to try to improve and to have better growth, bigger opportunities.
“And I think tonight was an encapsulation of that.”
With that, off into the Atlanta night, off to Cleveland, remaining in lockstep with his players, savoring the gift of more time together, that 37-45 regular-season record and 10th-place finish hardly feeling like excess baggage.
IN THE LANE
HIGHLY UNLIKELY: When TNT on Sunday announces the three finalists for each of the NBA’s major awards during the pregame show for Heat-Cavaliers, expect the Heat to be where they spent much of the season in the standings — largely out of sight. Of the major categories, just about the only longshot to be named one of the three finalists in any category might be Tyler Herro for Most Improved Player. The Heat’s best chance for postseason honors would appear to be Kel’el Ware on one of the All-Rookie teams, perhaps Bam Adebayo on one of the All-Defensive teams, with Herro a longshot for third-team All-NBA.
THINKING MAN: For all that transpired between Jimmy Butler and the Heat, respect remains in at least one Heat quarter when it comes to Butler’s game smarts. Udonis Haslem, who holds a Heat front-office title, in his ESPN role this past week said that Butler’s basketball IQ trumps that of Haslem’s former Heat teammates Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. “I had this conversation with Dwyane Wade last night,” Haslem said during an ESPN appearance. “I told him to his face, ‘You are talented as hell, LeBron has been talented as hell, but (Butler) is way smarter than y’all.’ He is very smart. He is an extremely smart basketball player.” During an appearance on Wade’s podcast, Haslem said, “I tell people this all the time, I played defense on you, guarding you in practice. I played defense on ‘Bron. Everybody’s different, but Jimmy’s probably the smartest offensive player.” Butler and the Warriors open their first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
FALL GUY?: The clock appears to be ticking on former Heat forward James Jones in his role as Phoenix Suns general manager, with coach Mike Budenholzer dismissed, a lottery fate, and Kevin Durant seemingly with more than one foot out the door. Jones’ contract expires in June. Asked this past week about the roles of Jones, who has been in Phoenix’s front office since 2017, and CEO Josh Bartelstein, Suns owner Mat Ishbia would only offer, “There’s gonna be a lot of change. Here’s what I’ll say, Coach Bud, that change was made, that didn’t need more evaluation. Everything’s gonna be evaluated, but it’s gonna start with me being accountable and setting an identity, and then making sure that the identity we set for Phoenix Suns is set from the ownership. The fans are going to love it and be proud of it. The front office is aligned, the coaches are aligned, the players are aligned.”
STILL GOING: Why, yes, that is former Heat center Hassan Whiteside back in action in Puerto Rico with Cangrejeros de Santurce. No, not the highest level of competition, but the short spring league often lures former NBA players with the proximity and payday. Whiteside’s previous basketball action also had come in Puerto Rico, in 2023, when he averaged 22.2 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks, that season named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Also joining Whiteside’s Puerto Rico team is former Heat summer prospect Ian Clark.
NUMBER
33. Years since the Heat made the playoffs with a losing record. The only time the franchise had done it prior to the current pathway from 37-45 was in 1992, when a 38-44 finish under Kevin Loughery produced a first-round 3-0 loss to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. This season’s Heat is just the third team since 2010 to make the playoffs with a losing record, joining the 2011 Indiana Pacers (37-45) and the 2022 New Orlando Pelicans (36-46), with both of those teams losing in the first round.
Continue reading...
