The Miami Heat are in a great place now, but they haven’t always been. Those bad times almost got the best of the Heat’s Godfather, Pat Riley.
The Miami Heat are in a great place right now.
They are 8-1 in the NBA playoffs currently and waiting on their opponents to be determined for the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals.
Who would have thunk that the Miami Heat would sweep their first-round opponents in the Indiana Pacers? Who would have thought that they could achieve the Gentleman’s Sweep on Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Milwaukee Bucks?
Some of us probably had faith, but none of us really knew that they could do those things. When you think about the last few seasons that the Miami Heat have had before this current season, those outlooks seemed especially bleak.
When you think about all these years between this season and the end of the Big 3 Era, 2014, getting back here seemed like a journey unable to be conquered. As we always say though, In Pat Riley We Trust and that we did, faithful that he would never lead us astray.
What happens when Riles is low on faith though?
The Miami Heat are back! But, they have had a few down years in betwixt.
Well, we don’t know because we have never seen him dramatically perpetuate those feelings publicly, but with the last few seasons, you could just imagine that those thoughts crossed his mind.
We don’t have to imagine anymore though. Recently, Zach Lowe said something on his podcast that really made our ears perk up. Here it is, per the Twitter account of Miami Heat Beat.
“Our so-called leaders” — Pat Riley, spitting in disdain about Hassan Whiteside and Dion Waiters.
— Miami Heat Beat (We Just Cover The Team) (@miaheatbeat) September 10, 2020
(per @LeBatardShow on @ZachLowe_NBA’s podcast) pic.twitter.com/sYcZ53MvnX
Well, tell us how you really feel Riles! A down and out Pat Riley told somebody exactly how he felt, although we already knew how he probably felt about Dion Waiters and Hassan Whiteside.
In any situation, there are certain lapses that can be forgiven. In a Miami Heat situation, the ones that cannot are lack of focus, lack of effort, selfish ways or me, me, me, activity, and a ton of other things.
The two aforementioned players were guilty of all of those at times and perhaps a lot more. That’s why this isn’t that much of a surprise to hear expressed by the great Pat Riley.
One of them was in Orlando but got sent home early, while the other couldn’t stay healthy for a team that is seemingly on its way to the Western Conference Finals.
Meanwhile and again, the Miami Heat sit and await their Eastern Conference Finals opponent. Life is good in Miami Heat land.
It was also still good to hear this real talk from The Godfather though. It reaffirms that he has his finger on our pulses and the pulse of what’s right for our favorite little basketball team.