The Miami Heat are a really good team this year and we mean, really really good. Here’s something for those wondering how this team got so good, so soon.
The Miami Heat have been a really mediocre team over the past couple of seasons or so. They were in a position where none of those outside of the building could see a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Thank god for our sanity, that Pat Riley obviously saw hope in a very dreary seeming situation.
Fast forward one year, the Miami Heat are now the home of one the NBA’s preeminent two-way swingman in Jimmy Butler. They house one of the best young shooters in the league in Duncan Robinson.
They have struck gold in the developmental league, mining gems such as Kendrick Nunn and Derrick Jones Jr. along the way. They also managed to absolutely strike oil in this past NBA Draft and undrafted free agent market, bringing in both Tyler Herro and Chris Silva, two rookies with meaningful roles on this team. They even managed to move a burdening contract through it all, the former number 21, which also allowed them to bring in a new face like Meyers Leonard.
While these players, along with the many fantastic returning players of the Miami Heat, have been greatly responsible for their performance as a whole this season, there is something intangible that has a hand in it as well. The comradery, or chemistry, between this group of Miami Heat guys is tactile and real, but also has a huge hand to play in why they are playing so well. Here are a few examples.
When asked about the star power, or lack thereof, on this Miami Heat team, Jimmy Butler had an interesting response. His response was one that showed a certain faith and belief in those around him, almost as much or more so than he believes in his own. Here is the exchange.
Reporter to Jimmy Butler: "What do you say when they say you need a team of two to three stars and this team has just one star?"
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) December 19, 2019
Jimmy: "This is a team of one star? Who is that? Bam [Adebayo]?
While some might have said something to the effect of “I think I am enough” or something similar to the more politically correct answer, like “We could always use all the help we can get”, Jimmy went here. This is the type of thing that shows how much this team actually likes and believes in one another, but that isn’t the only clear-cut example from just in recent days.
wanted dead or alive for stealing rebounds @meyersleonard pic.twitter.com/1QOH7Ol0jJ
— Jimmy Butler (@JimmyButler) December 21, 2019
While a lot of people in 2019’s NBA are the stat chasing kind, I really don’t think that attitude purely exists amongst any of the Miami Heat’s key players, or players that matter right now. There was this one situation with Jimmy Butler though, where he used that type of topic to poke fun at Meyers Leonard.
It is things like the above that prove something more than anything else and that is that the Miami Heat players genuinely like each other. That can go a long way towards team success even when a team isn’t as talented as the Heat are, but can be just the thing to drive a team towards greatness if they do have a certain level of or enough talent, such as the Miami Heat do. I am looking forward to continuing to watch this Miami Heat team grow this season, as their potential is immense and their chemistry is a huge reason why.