Heat management leaving impression on players during pandemic. And high praise for Butler
A six-pack of Miami Heat notes on a Tuesday:
▪ Two sources very close to Heat players raved about how the team has handled the pandemic, noting that Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra have stayed in close contact with players and seem to genuinely care about their well-being.
“Spoelstra is staying in contact with everyone,” one source said.
They also say the Heat has gone about the voluntary Zoom workouts in an organized, professional way very much in character with how the organization operates.
“Guys consistently have been getting attended to,” one of the sources said.
We’re also told that every player who was in South Florida last week and is signed to a standard contract showed up for the first day of voluntary workouts — all 12 of them. (Jimmy Butler, Andre Iguodala and Solomon Hill are in California.)
The players did mostly standstill shooting during that first session. There also was a strength and conditioning element to the workout.
One player was struck by the caring tone to texts from Heat management, with Riley and/or Spoelstra advising them to put their health and families’ health first. There has been no pressure exerted from a basketball standpoint.
▪ Duncan Robinson, discussing the Heat’s arena workout sessions with the ABC affiliate in Manchester, New Hampshire, noted “it’s only one coach and one player at one basket. They’re trying to maintain the social distancing thing. Coaches are wearing masks and gloves. It’s very different, but at least we’re able to get back out there and try to work back into shape.”
Robinson said “personally, I would rather finish out this season. We had a good thing going. I feel like we have a great group. We’d definitely like to see this season through. Obviously, it all depends if they can find a scenario that it’s safe. The health and safety of not only the players, but the staff and everybody who is involved with putting on a game is a priority.”
▪ ESPN’s Jalen Rose last week said Jimmy Butler has “ascended” to the distinction of being the NBA’s most underrated player.
Here’s how Rose explained it:
“Top four seed in the East. Miami continues to outplay expectations. It’s not only the numbers with Butler. How about this? When he left the Bulls, they got worse. When he left Minnesota, they got worse. When they left the 76ers, they got worse.
“Who would have thought Jimmy Butler was going to leave Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, go to Miami, team with Bam Adebayo, he becomes an All-Star. Duncan Robinson makes the three-point contest, Derrick Jones wins the Dunk Contest. And they’re in the thick of things.”
Incidentally, a panel of ESPN experts is counting down the NBA’s top players this week, and Butler was 15th in that poll.
▪ Spoelstra, in an ESPN conversation with Adrian Wojnarowski and Maria Taylor, said Udonis Haslem is his favorite Heat player of all time.
“My favorite Miami Heat player is not a Hall of Famer, but he’s a Miami Heat Hall of Famer, and his numbers will go up in the rafters as soon as he’s done,” Spoelstra said. “And he was the player when we won our championship against Oklahoma City [in 2012], he was the one that dumped the Gatorade bucket on me. And that was Udonis Haslem. And he is Mr. Miami.
“We’ve been through everything together. So my first year as an assistant coach was his rookie year. We kind of grew up in this business together. But I love his story. He’s from Liberty City, right here in Miami’s backyard.
“And he was able to find a different path. He was not drafted and played four years at Florida, All-American, but had to go overseas to play and had to earn a nonguaranteed contract with us. And 17 short years later, he is our all-time leading rebounder. He’s as tough as they come.”
▪ In Spoelstra’s recent NBA Twitter interview with TNT’s Ernie Johnson, the coach made clear how much he values his friendship with former Heat coach Stan Van Gundy.
“Pat is my biggest mentor, but Stan is my first coach who really gave me confidence,” Spoelstra said. “He wrote me a letter I will never forget, [saying], ‘if you want to be a head coach in this league, you need to start thinking differently and open your mind to that.’”
▪ Quick stuff: We wrote here Monday about how a potential amnesty provision could create interesting free agent options for the Heat this summer. “We don’t know for sure if it’s going to happen,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on his podcast. “We just know that it’s something that teams are talking about as a possibility. And oh my gosh, if that happens, this was gonna be a pretty lame free agency… If that happens, guys, we could see some big-time action.”...
On a special “Inside Stuff” on the NBA’s social media platforms on Sunday, Shaquille O’Neal repeated the often-told story that he “had a fight with Pat Riley” during Shaq’s time here and “Gary Payton had to grab me from choking Pat Riley.”
Payton said he stopped Shaq but added “you should’ve choked him because I was going to choke him right after that.”
Payton said his response when Riley tried to make him run plays was “[expletive] that; I’m passing to Shaq.”
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 3:49 PM.
