Heat’s Morris discusses his adversity-filled season, not playing and how he’s handling it
Heat forward Markieff Morris would easily fit the definition of snakebitten this season, considering the Nikola Jokic cheap shot that triggered a whiplash injury that sidelined him for months, the fact he needed to wait for an NBA medical panel to clear him to play, and the ongoing reality of slipping out of the Heat’s rotation less than two weeks after returning to the lineup.
But there is no “woe-is-me” attitude with Morris as he awaits an opportunity that might not necessarily come this postseason.
“I wouldn’t call it snakebit,” the veteran forward told the Miami Herald this week. “Sometimes you just deal with [expletive] in your career. Some people can’t overcome [that]. I’m not one of those guys. You can’t keep turning negatives into negatives or everything is going to be a negative.”
Morris, who’s on a one-year, $2.6 million contract, entered Game 2 of this Heat-Hawks series having been a DNP-CD (did not play/coach’s decision) in six of the past seven games that he suited up for, including Game 1. But he’s handling it professionally.
“As a competitor, this is one of those things where you’ve got to accept it,” he said. “I’ve missed so many games [58 in a row at one point] and this team has had a lot of success without me playing.
“Obviously, I’m one of the top guys on the team. But we’ve had success without me. It happens to be one of those things - and I understand — if I’m needed, that’s when I’ll play. There’s nothing I can really do. It has nothing to do with my game or my career.”
Morris has discussed the situation with Erik Spoelstra but hasn’t complained about it.
“Me and Spo have done a great job of communicating,” he said. “We both understand where we come from. As a competitor, you’re going to be frustrated not playing. I’ve talked to Spo about that and why I’m not playing and why the situation is what it is.
“I got injured, guys played out of their mind and those are the guys that should be playing right now unless I’m needed. I’ll play great whenever I [am needed] because I’m a vet [and] I’ve played with these guys before. This situation now, it’s not broken, so no need to fix it.”
Morris appeared in six consecutive games after returning from the whiplash injury and shot well (16 for 34) in 17 minutes per game, but the Heat went 2-4 in those games and Spoelstra decided to go back to Dwayne Dedmon as the backup center.
Morris — who needed NBA approval to return because of Heat concern about a previous neck injury - has played in only one game since March 25 and closed the regular season with averages of 7.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 17.5 minutes in 17 games and one start, with the Jokic Nov. 8 shove to the back essentially torpedoing his season to this point.
Morris, 32, and guard Victor Oladipo find themselves in similar situations — accomplished veterans who missed significant time with injuries, came back late in the season and are both out of the rotation, at least for now. Morris said it makes “it easier” that he and his friend Oladipo are going through this together in a sense.
“Me and Vic are pros; we came back from a long layoff,” Morris said. “It’s not easy not to play, especially with our resume and knowing what we can do. And if I was never injured, I was always going to play. But you’ve got to be professional about it. I’m not going to cause a rift because I’m not playing. I’m going to support the guys because I know eventually I’ll be needed.”
The fact that Morris, Oladipo and Caleb Martin - who’s coming off a career season - couldn’t crack the rotation for Game 1 “speaks to how we built this team,” Morris said. “We built this team with depth. With injuries and the season not going the right way for a couple guys, including myself, the team has still had success.”
Has Pat Riley or anyone given Morris a pep talk?
“It’s not needed,” Morris said. “I don’t need no pep talks… I was in that spot with the Lakers when we had a bunch of guys that could play on any team in the league. You need players to be able to play in situations. We have those guys. I’m a part of that. Right now, I’m not needed. When they need me, I will be there.”
▪ Asked about the lack of attention the top-seeded Heat is receiving nationally, Tyler Herro said: “We don’t really want attention. You guys can keep the attention for the other teams in the East. They got to come through here anyways, so we’ll see what happens.”
