“Heat Culture” has been tested in 2024-25. Another chance to show what exactly that is comes up against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.
If you're not aware that term has been defined, Miami team president Pat Riley has tried to do so via the mission statement of being "the hardest-working, best conditioned, most professional, unselfish, toughest, meanest, nastiest team in the NBA."
Jimmy Butler’s behavior prior to being traded was deemed so unprofessional it drew a team suspension. Losing 10 consecutive games, many through blown double-digit leads, wasn’t mentally tough.
Mean and nasty? Well, when Ja Morant comes into your house and calls your rookie a “pigeon” on national television after hitting a game-winner in his face, how you react the next time out speaks volumes about just what kind of culture you have.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about not letting go of the rope often throughout March’s 10-game skid. Although it was easy to roll your eyes hearing that as the losses piled up, his team came together and won six straight prior to Thursday’s loss to Memphis.
Entering this crucial Bucks game on Saturday night, the hope is that the Heat have a chip on their shoulder. Morant’s chirping was disrespectful. His heroics stunted Miami’s momentum, but there’s plenty to build on.
Bam Adebayo got off to a great start against the Grizzlies and supplied the kind of fire Miami wants to see from him to start games. Tyler Herro had a massive third quarter en route to a monster 35-point outburst.
Rookies Kel’el Ware (15 rebounds) and Pelle Larsson (4 steals) continued making great contributions. New sixth man Davion Mitchell played more minutes than anyone but Herro, stuffing the stat sheet with a team-high seven assists while shooting 3-for-5 from 3-point range.
Spoelstra has kept Kyle Anderson in his rotation, giving him 20 minutes and a chance to impact the game for a fifth straight time after multiple DNPs. Andrew Wiggins is still dealing with his hamstring issues, so the Heat won’t be able to count on him against Milwaukee. However, they’ve already proven they can hold their own against quality opponents despite missing one of their best two-way players.
As was the case in Boston on Wednesday, the Heat will be looking to avoid a season sweep against an Eastern Conference playoff lock. Two of the Bucks’ three wins over Miami this season have come by seven or more points, but they come to Kaseya Center with Damian Lillard (deep vein thrombosis) still out and Bobby Portis serving out the final few games of his suspension. Milwaukee arrives in South Florida tied with the Detroit Pistons at 42-34 in the race for the No. 5 seed.
Herro will look to be out there against his hometown team if he can overcome a thigh contusion, and the Heat will need to show the same amount of fight bouncing back from one loss that they did overcoming 10.
Around the country, “Heat Culture” became a thing because Butler was respected as a “dawg.” Reaching the NBA Finals in the bubble and then as a No. 8 seed in '23 made Miami’s basketball team synonymous with being overachievers, a product of the toughness Riley and Spoelstra instill from top to bottom.
Now, with Butler thriving in San Francisco, the Heat need to keep that plucky, defiant spirit alive behind rookies who have shown heart and newcomers like Wiggins, Anderson and Mitchell following the lead of Adebayo and Herro.
Morant ensured the 2024-25 Heat will finish with a losing record, but his game-winner and his ungracious post-game words present an opportunity for the basketball community to see how new-look Miami responds.
Win or lose, no matther how short-handed, the Heat need to come out and play with tenacity for 48 minutes against the Bucks. For the culture.
