Heat pushing for AmericanAirlines Arena voting site. And is NBA Most Improved Player on Heat?
Coach Erik Spoelstra joined other NBA coaches whose teams are participating in the restart, wearing a “Coaches for Racial Justice” pin on his polo for Saturday’s scrimmage.
“We want to stand united and continue this conversation and this message about true equality and we still want to see justice for the wrongs that have happened,” Spoelstra said before Saturday afternoon’s scrimmage against the Utah Jazz at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. “Just like you’ve heard the players saying, we still want to see justice for Breonna Taylor, for the three police officers who have not been arrested. This is a symbol that we want to wear. It’s a bigger pin than you would typically wear because we want this conversation to continue to happen.”
Spoelstra also revealed the Heat has petitioned the city of Miami to use AmericanAirlines Arena as a voting site for the upcoming elections. The Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks have also offered their facilities as a potential voting site.
“We think it would be terrific for the city, for our community,” Spoelstra said. “There at the arena, we think we would be able to make it safe. We would be able to follow all the health protocols. It could be extremely efficient. It would be fantastic for the city and we’re pushing for it. Really, the ball is in their court right now. We want to make it happen and that’s really something that we hope we can get done.”
As part of the Heat’s social justice pledge, the organization has pledged to donate to organizations that are working to eradicate racial inequality, support education initiatives that serve the Black community and help more Black students attend college, provide opportunities to Black students with its company mentoring and internship programs, support voter registration initiatives that make it easier for more people to vote, give all Heat staff paid time off on Election Day to vote, designate Juneteenth as a permanent paid holiday for employees of the organization and partner with Black-owned businesses in the community.
HEAT’S MOST IMPROVED PLAYER CANDIDATES
The Heat has had two players win the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award in franchise history — Rony Seikaly in 1989-90 and Isaac Austin in 1996-97.
This season, the Heat has two players who are expected to receive consideration for the honor. Center Bam Adebayo and forward Duncan Robinson are both candidates for the Most Improved Player Award.
Just don’t ask Spoelstra to pick between the two.
“I think they should be up there. How could you not consider them?” Spoelstra asked aloud in advance of Saturday afternoon’s Heat scrimmage. “Bam wasn’t a starter the year before. And Duncan really wasn’t in the league. He was playing in the G League. So I would consider them both for the award. Literally, I would. Don’t make me have to answer which one I would pick. I would give a co-award to both of them.”
While Spoelstra would give the award to both of his players, the honor has been reserved for one player each season since its inception in 1985-86. The last three winners of the Most Improved Player Award: Toronto’s Pascal Siakam in 2018-19, Indiana’s Victor Oladipo in 2017-18 and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2016-17.
Voting for NBA awards this season will be based on games played from the start of the regular season through March 11 when play was suspended amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Voting will not include seeding games, which begin July 30 at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista. TNT will announce the award winners during the playoffs, which begin Aug. 17.
Along with Adebayo and Robinson, other candidates for this season’s Most Improved Player Award includes New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Dallas Mavericks forward Luka Doncic and Charlotte Hornets guard Devonte’ Graham.
Among various publications predicting the winner of the award, Adebayo and Ingram look to be two of the front-runners. ESPN’s Zach Lowe had Ingram first and Adebayo second on his ballot for the Most Improved Player honor, with Tatum third.
In a piece published on May 31, a panel of ESPN’s NBA reporters and analysts said that Adebayo should win the Most Improved Player Award. Adebayo received 53 percent of the first-place votes from ESPN’s NBA journalists who participated in the survey.
Heat center Meyers Leonard said earlier this month that he believes Adebayo deserves the award.
“There’s one answer. It’s Bam,” Leonard said when asked how he defines the Most Improved Player Award. “That’s what it is. You talk about a young player who’s developing into a superstar right in front of our eyes.
“Obviously, I was in Portland and I was wondering, ‘OK, well what is he capable of?’ To be completely truthful and I’ve said this to Bam before, I thought he was an incredibly athletic player, gifted on the defensive end and could finish around the rim. We all now know that that is the truth, but there’s just so much more.”
This story was originally published July 25, 2020 at 9:40 AM.
