Heat players dish on one underrated factor in their success: ‘This team is different’
The incumbent Heat players wondered. They all wondered privately — after observing from afar that dysfunctional situation in Minnesota early last season — how injecting Jimmy Butler’s alpha, forceful personality would impact the gentle balance of Heat chemistry.
But a funny thing happened amid all the wondering: Butler’s insertion — coupled with the addition of Meyers Leonard, Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro and the ubiquitous optimism and team-first approach of Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic — has made this Heat locker room chemistry as strong as any of the 17 Heat teams Udonis Haslem has ever been on, Haslem said this week.
And even with a just-concluded 1-4 Western swing amid injuries, this Heat team — on and off the floor — has been a rousing success, with Butler and Adebayo headed to Sunday’s All-Star Game, four other players invited to All-Star events and Miami heading to the break at 35-19 and fourth in the conference.
“This team is different,” Dragic said. “Nobody expected us to play so well, and you can see we have a great chemistry and everybody likes each other. We hang out on the road. We have more in common, more topics in common. Me and Jimmy talk about soccer all the time [as an example]. You cannot force those kind of relationships. It just happens. It’s a good vibe.”
But Dragic sees one reason, above all, why this locker room has meshed seamlessly and why Butler’s edgy personality has fit here:
“Nobody is sensitive here,” Dragic said. “That’s the main key. Sometimes you need to tell some guys you better do this better and it’s nothing personal. With this group, every individual understands that. It’s not personal.”
Dragic admits he wondered how the young players would respond to Butler challenging them but “they push you here. Jimmy is the same. If you’re not used to it, it can [be] like, ‘I don’t like him.’ But this is the perfect situation for us and Jimmy. He just wants you and the team to get better.”
There are a few other factors why Heat players have taken so well to Butler’s pushing, more so than in Minnesota: The team has been winning, aside from the recent road trip. They know Butler cares about them. And the Heat’s locker room is filled with players with pleasant, easy-going personalities, which is also the case with newcomers Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill.
BUTLER’S CRITIQUES ARE WELCOMED
Derrick Jones Jr. said there have been times Butler has forcefully told him he must do something better.
“But I don’t take criticism personally,” Jones said. “I take it as I need to get better so we don’t have a little disagreement. Everybody heard the rumors about Jimmy [but] since Day One meeting him, it was always a good vibe.
“He’s not the person people say he is. He is a super-competitive person, as everybody in this organization is. For someone to come in like him and hold everyone accountable, it’s not him being a [jerk] about it. It’s about him being Jimmy Butler, and us loving him for that reason.”
Kelly Olynyk said of Butler: “What surprises me the most is seeing how unselfish he is on and off the court. It’s been an unbelievable surprise and a testament to who he is. I know he’s gotten people around the arena [sneakers] and stuff, little things that go unnoticed.”
So has Butler changed his approach around young players, or is this simply a case of these young players being more responsive to his prodding?
“Everybody changes with time,” Butler said Wednesday. “But it’s really good whenever your young guys go about things the way that you do. That’s not a knock on any of the former young guys that I’ve had, but we have a bunch of underdogs that weren’t high picks and they realize it’s a dog-eat-dog league and in this organization you work to gain everything you have Nothing is given to you here. That is how they’ve gained everybody’s respect around the league.”
But this bond between Heat teammates goes beyond Butler. Teammates marvel at Adebayo’s perpetually upbeat demeanor, how he moves around the locker room shaking everyone’s hand every day.
“Steve Nash used to do that all the time in Phoenix,” Dragic said. “Bam’s always humble and full of energy, joking around, saying hello to people.”
Meyers Leonard shares this story from the summer: “First day I came to work out and I went home, spoke to my wife and she said, ‘How did it go today?’ Did you talk to anybody? Who’d you get to know?’
“I said, ‘Bam, out of nowhere, just absolutely embraced me. Big smile, ‘How you doing? Excited to have you here. It’s going to be fun playing with you.’ He cares about everyone in the building,” which coach Erik Spoelstra acknowledged when he called Adebayo one of the “most amazing” people he’s met.
DOES HEAT TEAM CHEMISTRY EQUAL WINNING?
The question is: Does the fact these players like each other lead to more winning?
“It absolutely translates more than anybody can ever imagine,” Leonard said. “Does talent win? Yes. But when you build a chemistry as people that care about each other, have trust in each other, that translates so much to the basketball floor that people can’t even begin to imagine.
“Because when you’re developing chemistry, it’s personal. You want to go to war for that guy. You are going to make the extra pass when someone else may be open. That’s just simple caring that a large percentage of this league doesn’t have.”
Dragic puts it this way: “It helps if you get along. You want to share the ball more. It’s crucial to be a good team.”
And the Heat had that, though it also must be noted that there hasn’t been a lengthy losing streak yet to test it. So it was no surprise that Herro, Jones and Nunn spent New Year’s Eve together. Or that Leonard and others have had teammates to their homes. Or that they dine a lot together on the road, more than some Heat teams did.
“We all come from similar backgrounds, have a lot of undrafted players and second-round players,” Jones said. “Even the first-round guys, we weren’t given anything coming up and we have that dog in us. And we all love each other.”
As the Heat went separate ways Thursday — with five heading to Chicago to participate in All-Star weekend events — there was internal appreciation for where the Heat stands even after the bumpy road trip.
“I‘m excited for where our team is,” Butler said. “We’re only going to get better.”
Or, as Erik Spoelstra said: “We’re excited about our team. Nobody wants to go 1-4 on the road trip, but it doesn’t take the eternal optimist to see there are good things going on in this locker room.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 3:00 PM.
