Miami Heat: Media Day reflects the team’s undying culture

The Miami Heat prepare for another culture-filled season in 2018-19.

24 hours before the Miami Heat’s 2018-19 training camp kicks off in South Florida, the team was abound with optimism.

Beyond the signings of Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem earlier this month, Miami has been particularly tight-lipped regarding addressing the public.

For many on the team, September’s Media Day stands as one of the first public appearances for the Heat, since the team’s end of season exit interviews.

The lion’s share of talking was localized to head coach Erik Spoelstra and Wade, veterans of the organization and among the most capable of parsing through the gritty details of the team’s upcoming 31^st season.

And the focus was just that; the team quickly made clear the press conference’s focus would be localized to the team and its 20 players that will be present for training camp.

That’s right, Jimmy Butler talk was off the table.

Butler is currently the NBA’s not-so-hidden gem.

After announcing that he wanted out from his current role with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the forward’s name has been injected into trade packages with any team that has even a half-baked hope at making a deal.

With Butler kept out of Miami’s presser, the team was able to focus more on its outlook with its current group of talent.

It was never about the money

The biggest takeaway from Miami’s event today is the least surprising: the Heat always say the right things.

That sentiment was doubly true for Wade, whose veteran minimum deal of $2.3 million will encompass his career’s lightest set of NBA paychecks.

Wade has never been Miami’s highest paid player, a fact that stands as an anomaly amid $200 million super-max contracts.

Despite the rumors that Wade’s tax returns were the reason for his departure from and general contempt of Miami in 2016, he is pushing the narrative in the opposite direction.

"“None of it involved money,” Wade announced. “That’s never been the main reason … It’s not that I don’t love money. There are other things that are more important when you are making decisions about your family.”"

Even if it were about money, media day would be the last place to hear about it.

Wade, forever a class act, has maintained good will towards the Heat his entire career, even when facing the club as an opponent.

Expecting to hear anything but respect and admiration for the organization and its fan base, is best left to ill-conceived NBA fan-fiction.

This roster is good

Without a major signing or acquisition to parade around town like the Toronto Raptors have in Kawhi Leonard, Miami was forced to double down in support of its current cast.

Though Tyler Johnson’s name was suspiciously left out of his address, Spoelstra had positive words for nearly every one of his core players.

But Spoelstra’s most important nugget from the conference details his continued confidence in Hassan Whiteside.

Compared to his finesse-ridden 2016-17 campaign, the Whiteside of last season was an archaic example of why traditional centers have fallen out of favor in the NBA.

Despite those seemingly insurmountable hurdles, Spoelstra supported Whiteside in his return to form as a player who could impact the game as profoundly as he did two years ago.

"“We need him,” Spoelstra asserted. “We know that I haven’t forgotten about the player that he’s capable of being. I remember the kind of player he was two years ago and preseason and this [past] season, before he got injured.”"

While Spoesltra did not guarantee major league minutes for Whiteside, the center remains as one of the team’s building blocks.

Miami’s roster continues to assert that its strength comes from its versatility.

With flexible pieces responsive to a wealth of situations, the Heat are armed to the teeth ahead of the 2018-19 season.