Don’t go hitting the panic button, Heat fans, but there is another injury to talk about. It seems this preseason for the Miami Heat has been filled with practically nothing but talk about injuries, and considering how many players have had one, it’s a legitimate subject.
Dwyane Wade pulled up lame in the first game of the preseason, and hasn’t been seen since. Mario Chalmers was carrying over an injury to his ankle from last year (although there’s good news on that front), and Eddie House has been nursing a sore shoulder (he too is all fine now).
There was the hamstring scare for LeBron just recently, and Mike Miller rolled his ankle twice in a recent game, although his ankle seems fine.
His thumb is another story entirely.
According to reports, Miller suffered an injury to his right thumb (that’s the thumb on his shooting hand) when he got it caught it tangled in the jersey of a teammate during practice on Wednesday.
“It was just a drill,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He got it caught in a jersey with some contact on a post-up.”
Miami Heat management haven’t formally come out and talked about the extent of the injury or how long it may take him to recover from it, but according to Yahoo! Sports he’s expected to possibly miss at least several weeks, and other reports are saying he could miss as much as two months.
Udonis Haslem was asked about it and said, “Obviously, he’s disappointed. He was so excited to be here and be a part of this. The good thing is it’s not season-edning, from what I’m hearing, so that’s a good sign.”
He didn’t travel with the team on their trip to Atlanta, where they’ll play tonight against the Hawks, nor is he likely to join the team when they play their final preseason game on Friday night against the Orlando Magic in Tampa, Fla.
Instead, he’s expected to have several tests conducted today, and to be seen by a renowned hand surgeon, Dr. Andrew Weiland, on Friday. I don’t know the exact nature of the injury, and I’m no doctor, but the fact he’s seeing a surgeon makes it seem a bit serious to me.
That being said, I can’t imagine it would keep him out for more than the two months of the regular season they’re talking about (I’ve seen guys break their fingers and come back that fast), so, as I said above, don’t panic just yet, Heat fans.
While Mike Miller is going to be an integral cog in the machine that will be the Miami Heat over the next few seasons, Miami can afford to miss him for even a couple of months if need be. The Heat still have the “Three Kings”, and as long as they’re healthy, with the team we have surrounding them I believe we’ll still dominate any team in the league.
So, get better quickly, Mike, we’ll all be praying for you. When you get back you can help the Miami Heat keep winning.