James Johnson remains away from Heat for Day 2 of training camp
Forward James Johnson remained away from the Heat for Day 2 of training camp Wednesday at Keiser University in West Palm Beach.
Johnson is not with the team for the start of camp after falling short of conditioning requirements, and there is no set timetable for his return. Although coach Erik Spoelstra said Tuesday “he is still very much a part of our team and we hope to get him back soon.”
It was determined after Monday’s media day that Johnson was not ready for the start of training camp, when he did not meet the Heat’s conditioning standards. A team spokesman said Johnson, 32, has not been fined or suspended and is not with the team at its Palm Beach hotel.
Johnson has served as one of the Heat’s captains in each of the past two seasons.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, a former NBA executive: “Johnson has a $242K likely bonus in his contract for body fat % and weight requirement. Johnson has met the bonus in the previous two seasons.”
Along with Johnson, Heat big man Kelly Olynyk missed the first two days of camp because of a bone bruise on his right knee — an injury sustained playing for Team Canada in August. Olynyk is with the Heat in West Palm Beach, though.
The Heat wraps up training camp in West Palm Beach on Saturday before returning to AmericanAirlines Arena on Sunday for its annual Red, White & Pink Game intrasquad scrimmage.
A new experience
Meyers Leonard is entering his eighth NBA season, but his first with the Heat.
Through the first two days of training camp, the 7-1 Leonard has already felt a difference in the way the Heat does things.
“You always hear about the Miami Heat, the conditioning test, practices, being in shape, body fat, all that,” Leonard said Wednesday. “That’s something that I just fall in line with anyways. But I like it. It’s a challenge. Every day, you’re expected to be closest to your highest level. If not, at least putting your best effort in.
“Today, I did something wrong and I liked that Spo said something to me. Dion [Waiters] gets downhill, swings the ball to me, I probably have a chance to get a shot up and I don’t shoot it. I get downhill and we ended up scoring, but the point is that I still should have shot the ball. My point is there’s a certain level that’s supposed to be met and expectation that you’re showing up ready to work every single day no matter what.”
▪ After missing the entirety of summer league, second-round pick KZ Okpala is playing catch-up with the Heat.
“He has been doing that, and he will continue to do so,” Spoelstra said of Okpala. “He comes on the first bus, he’s putting in the time. I’m sure some of this probably feels like he’s getting put through a fire hose. For a lot of young guys, it is like that. But he’s putting the time.”
The Heat selected the 20-year-old Okpala with the second pick in the second round (No. 32 overall) in the June 20 draft. But because Miami acquired the 6-9 forward out of Stanford in a draft-night trade, the Heat’s acquisition of Okpala could not become official until the end of the NBA moratorium on July 6. That delay kept Okpala from playing in summer league.
This story was originally published October 2, 2019 at 3:03 PM.
