Podcast: Coping with 50 days without Heat. And AP’s Tim Reynolds on NBA restart plans
Thursday officially marks 50 days since the last time the Miami Heat was on the court. The Heat was in the middle of a devastating loss to the Charlotte Hornets when the NBA announced it would be suspending play indefinitely because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The original plan was for games to be halted two weeks.
Oh, what an innocent time.
Nearly two months later, we’re still trying to cope with a life without sports, so Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press joins David Wilson and Anthony Chiang, the Miami Herald’s Heat beat writer, for an impromptu therapy session on the latest episode of the Heat Check podcast. Somehow, it turns into a weirdly long conversation about the 2020 NFL Draft, the thrill of the Miami Dolphins drafting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and how it reminded us of what we’re missing without any live sports.
It didn’t mean the NFL Draft wasn’t weird and a reminder of what will be strange whenever sports return. We mull what the NBA might look like without fans in attendance whenever play resumes.
Meanwhile, Reynolds casually mentions he has talked to commissioner Adam Silver three times since the coronavirus pandemic brought the league to a halt. Reynolds, a national NBA writer for the AP, offers up the insights he’s gleaned from talking with Silver and other sources around the league, including why the NBA seems to be more cautious than the NHL and MLB, and how long it might take a concrete plan to actually be implemented.
We wrap things up by talking about the only must-discuss topic in the NBA these days: “The Last Dance.” The last two episodes, centering upon Hall of Famers Dennis Rodman and Phil Jackson, were a highlight, but they were truly just a vessel for a very brief cameo by former Heat coach Ron Rothstein. Reynolds has also gotten a glimpse at some future episodes, so he has the scoop on what to look for in the coming weeks, including “Dream Team” content and an interview with Kobe Bryant.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
