Why the Heat’s memorable playoff run has been productive on and off the court
The Miami Heat’s playoff run has included a lot of positives for the organization.
The wins, the moments, the national recognition ... and a sizable share of an NBA playoff pool that is larger than ever. Playoff teams will split a record $23,287,266 this postseason.
As one of the two teams in the NBA Finals that continued with Game 5 on Friday night, the Heat will receive $4,399,686 in the scenario that it loses the championship series and $5,791,041 if it wins the championship as part of the playoff pool. Each organization divides its pool money differently, with teams often giving shares to trainers and other staff members along with players, coaches and executives.
The breakdown of the Heat’s playoff pool money looks like this:
▪ $222,545 bonus for finishing in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
▪ $347,545 for making the playoffs.
▪ $413,534 for advancing to the second round of the playoffs.
▪ $683,363 for advancing to the conference finals.
▪ The team that loses in the Finals receives another $2,732,699 and the NBA champions receive $4,124,054.
Along the way, the fifth-seeded Heat has also made history with its improbable playoff run.
It marks the first time a team seeded fifth or lower has made it to the NBA Finals since 1999, when the eighth-seeded New York Knicks represented the East in the championship series during a lockout-shortened season. Those Knicks lost that Finals series 4-1 to the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs.
In addition, the Heat’s .603 win percentage in the regular season is the fourth-worst win percentage by a team to reach the Finals since the playoffs expanded to its present 16-team format in 1984, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Miami closed the regular season with a 44-29 record.
“I get to be around a great group of guys, great coaching staff. We have fun,” Heat All-Star Jimmy Butler said Thursday of his playoff experience in the Disney bubble and reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in his career. “Basketball is always basketball. It’s competing. We know what you’re going to get. Then I think it’s just really hard. As [coach Erik Spoelstra] always says, it’s going to be the hardest thing you ever have to do. I believe him. I’ve seen that, I’ve felt that now.”
LIFE OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE
It has been three months since the Heat arrived at the NBA’s Disney campus on July 8.
Heat forward Duncan Robinson admits there has been “a certain level of disconnection” from the outside world since entering the quarantine bubble. Robinson also admits returning to life outside of the league’s bubble will require an adjustment.
“It’ll come with its challenges,” Robinson said Thursday. “Habits are developed over the 90-plus days we’ve been here. You have your daily routines that are going to have to change. That’s just how it goes. The same adjustments that you made coming had here, you make them leaving. It really is what it is. I don’t have a better explanation than that. Just kind of got to go with the flow.”
For Spoelstra, he has been too focused on the playoff run to think about life after the bubble.
“I have not [thought about it], other than my conversations with my wife and our kids and school,” Spoelstra said. “That kind of brings you back to reality. Other than that, no, I haven’t given any thought, for right or wrong, to anything outside this bubble right now that’s not family related.”
CHRIS BOSH WEIGHS IN
Who’s the best teammate LeBron James has ever had? The most popular two answers seem to be James’ current Los Angeles Lakers teammate Anthony Davis and James’ former Heat teammate Dwyane Wade.
Retired Heat forward Chris Bosh has an opinion, and he’s giving the edge to Wade. That shouldn’t be too surprising since Bosh was part of Miami’s Big 3 teams alongside James and Wade from 2010 to 2014.
“As far as ranking teammates, it’s tough to rank,” Bosh said during an interview with Complex. “You know who I’m going to choose. It’s Dwyane Wade for me, because Dwyane said, ‘LeBron, you need to be the guy, you’re the No. 1 option, and I’ll figure everything out, you just go ahead and be comfortable being who you are.’ On top of that, just the effect they had on the game, I’ve never seen anybody do what they did. The steals. The lobs. The dunks. You could play highlights of those two forever. That stuff is classic. I haven’t seen anything like that before or after. As far as I’m concerned, that’s how I feel.”
▪ Heat center Bam Adebayo, who has Nigerian roots, was asked Thursday about the possibility of playing for the Nigerian national team.
“It feels good that people enjoy watching me play,” Adebayo said of becoming a fan favorite in Nigeria. “Having the next generation look up to me and be something special for them, that feels great. Right now, I can’t really worry about the decision to put on a Nigerian jersey.”
Adebayo tried out for and was cut by Team USA in advance of the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
