Former Miami Heat coach David Fizdale let his feelings be known on Kenny Atkinson’s dismissal recently. He detailed why that couldn’t happen in Miami.
The Miami Heat are a team, franchise, and organization built on culture. While some have tried to dismiss this notion and moniker as nothing more than a catchphrase or marketing ploy by the Miami Heat, it is much bigger than that.
What the culture is, is an environment and an essence that has been fostered by this particular franchise for a long time. The culture is what tells you to run that extra sprint, to take that extra 10 jumpers for practice, to dig deeper and to fight harder.
The culture in Miami is what has allowed them to take teams that shouldn’t be as good as they turned out to be and do special things with them. It may not have always resulted in titles, but it always resulted in a semblance of success and respect from the opposition.
Miami Heat culture is that thing that has never allowed such a mutiny in South Beach, as we have almost become so accustomed to seeing in professional sports all across the globe and spectrum. Anyone who was raised, groomed, or has simply been apart of said culture knows they’ve left it when they do, but it has also allowed them to stand at the forefront of things that just seem wrong as far as how other franchises operate.
This was more than likely the case with former Miami Heat assistant coach, David Fizdale. When talking with the New York Daily News about the subject, Coach Fiz essentially called it a “kick in the stomach” and insinuated that the players have too much power over these franchises. Here’s an exact quote from the former Miami Heat coach and ironically enough, on something he remembers from Miami about the topic.
"“I’ll give you a perfect example, it wasn’t always perfect in Miami between (coach Erik Spoelstra) and LeBron. But one thing we knew for sure, Spo wasn’t going anywhere, because he had the support of (team president Pat Riley and owner Mickey Arison), from the standpoint of, ‘This is our culture, this is how we do things, and everyone has to adjust to that.’ That’s the thing I respect so much about those teams like San Antonio and Miami, they make the players adapt to their culture. They don’t go the other way.”"
Perfectly said Fiz! Not only was it perfectly said, but he was exactly right about it, and that’s how it should always be.
The players are indeed the faces of these organizations, so that means that they do have a ton to do with the money-making potential associated with owning and running an NBA franchise. But, the majority of this money-making opportunity is facilitated and infrastructured by the organizations themselves.
When a player decides to leave an organization, they take their salary and all their belongings with them, while the organization still has to carry on. Because the NBA contracts are guaranteed, they don’t have the leg to stand on that NFL players do when they say that owners can just discard you when they see fit. The NBA players still get paid regardless.
So, to be frank, I wholeheartedly agree with Coach Fizdale. The players have too much power when it comes to decisions that should be made at the top. Fortunately for us, Miami Heat culture stands above all else, period, and Coach Fiz knows that.