As the Miami Heat enter a crucial season stating Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic, the buzz around the franchise seems to be at an all-time high with the core from the last five seasons. A main component of that core is Heat star Bam Adebayo who's looking to take that next step and gives his thoughts on the mindset of the team around him.
There is no doubt that Miami has had tremendous success with the core of Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Duncan Robinson who have been to two NBA Finals and have won a plethora of playoff games.
Heat's Bam Adebayo say this season “feels different”
However, Adebayo said during the final practice before the season opener that this season “feels different” and has the thought they will hit “another level” according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“It just shows that we’ve done a lot throughout our first five years,” Adebayo said. “But I feel like we still got another level. Because every year, we all come back better. This year just feels different. The energy feels different, and not just for us as a team. But the arena, the staff, the energy just feels different.”
The longevity of the core of the Heat has been a treat to watch for fans which is due to not just the talents of the aforementioned players, but the organization ran by Pat Riley and the brilliance of head coach Erik Spoelstra. Speaking of the long-time coach in Spoelstra, he spoke Tuesday about how the group has been huge reason for “winning” in Miami.
“That doesn’t happen if you don’t win in this league,” Spoelstra said. “Those four guys have been part of a lot of winning. Yes, they give you the institutional corporate knowledge for the next wave. So it fast tracks a lot of the stuff. But that’s the deal and that’s not lost on us. It’s hard to win in this league. It’s hard to find a core group that can win consistently. We’ve had some disappointing losses and playoff losses. But if you just look at it in totality, that group … how many have won as many games or playoff series as them?”
Heat's Tyler Herro on their goals
However, there has been disappointment the past few seasons as while they reached the NBA Finals in 2022, they finished both years at the eighth seed fighting for a spot in the play-in tournament. Herro would speak about despite the team changing around the group for the past five seasons, the goal is still the same and it starts throughout the regular season.
“I feel like there’s a lot more that we still have to do,” Herro said. “I think just being back on top of the East, even just throughout the regular season, I don’t think we’re a team or an organization that just wants to be in that play-in tournament. So I think that’s goal No. 1 is just being able to play and be healthy and be out there for a whole regular season and be a top-three, top-four team in the East with home-court advantage. Then from there, getting back to the conference finals and winning that and then winning a championship. Every year we have that goal and it’s not going to change.”
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Heat's Tyler Herro on the doubters
On the other hand, most predictions out there for the Heat's standing in the Eastern Conference has them likely for another appearance in the play-in tournament. Despite the immense amount of winning the group has compared to other teams, the outside doesn't have faith in the team, though Herro provides an explanation for that as it also deals with health.
“I think people, especially in this profession, are quick to forget. That’s just what happens,” Herro said. “Whatever is fresh is all people remember. When you bring out the resume, our era has been successful. But when you think about the last year, it hasn’t been. So that’s what people remember and we just got to bring it back. We’re the same team. We’ve gotten better. We’re the same core and we just got to prove it and stay healthy. I’m trying to play as many games as possible, Jimmy is trying to do the same.”
Health has held back the team the past two seasons as even Spoelstra guaranteed a better year in that department. It all starts Wednesday night as the Heat takes on Orlando.
