ESPN’s First Take Spot On About Miami Heat Sideline Fracas

The Miami Heat are one of the biggest stories in the world of sports right now. First of all, take that in.

After running through the NBA’s Eastern Conference all year along, with absences and injury all-around, and among a group of superpowers that everyone else crowned prior to the season even starting—it took this for people to actually talk about them for more than two minutes.

Go figure, right? In any event, it’s how you should like it, as it’s probably how the Miami Heat like it.

When it comes to the event in question though, the sideline fracas from Wednesday night’s terrible defeat, their second in a row to a hobbled and undermanned team missing their best players, one of the more popular sports platforms got the read exactly right.

When it comes to ESPN’s First Take and though pure entertainment for what it is, there is often a lot of bloviating by those that consider themselves aficionados, when in all actuality, it’s not about being right or wrong but embracing debate itself.

However, on Thursday’s show, when speaking about the Miami Heat, First Take star, Stephen A. Smith, and longtime ESPN contributor, Brian Windhorst, got it exactly right. See for yourself.

Though this was only Windhorst’s take, Stephen A. would follow with a take that was just as insightful. Though he was, pretty much, correct in what he said too, there is more room for in-between results than he made it seem.

The Miami Heat are the talk of sports right now. But, don’t let their Wednesday night sideline fracas fool you, they are still a threat to be taken seriously.

However and again, he was mostly correct. Here is his take.

"This is why the Miami Heat are first class. Windy, I spoke to about three people last night, within the Heat organization. Not a single one of them gave me the details—but they didn’t avoid the issue either.You see how they handle it? They should give lessons on how to handle a situation.Erik Spoelstra didn’t duck the question. Erik Spoelstra didn’t duck the issue. He just didn’t give you the minute details of what transpired because he’s not going to betray any trust. But they didn’t evade the issue, they didn’t say “no comment”, or anything like that.Kyle Lowry spoke on the issue. Erik Spoelstra spoke on the issue. I’m sure Jimmy Butler will speak on the issue. Udonis Haslem is Udonis Haslem.It’s a reason why he is on the bench and he’s been in the league for 20 years. He’s a consummate professional, he always puts in his work, he never ever cheated the game, and more importantly, from a player’s perspective, he personifies and epitomizes what the Miami Heat Culture is all about, what it’s supposed to be about, and what it will continue to be about long after Jimmy Butler or anybody else is gone."

He would go on to say that this isn’t any “shade” on Jimmy Butler and that he believes the situation was actually overblown. He would speak to how this is a typical Miami Heat move.

Also, he would say how this is just how they operate and why they are among one of the best organizations in all of sports.

He did close with an interesting tidbit though. He would go on to make a proclamation that isn’t false but has more leeway in betwixt than he makes it sounds.

Stephen A would say that the Miami Heat can make the NBA Finals—or they could lose in the first round. While this is true, it isn’t quite that simple either.

The better phrasing is this. Yes, they have the potential to be one of the best teams in the league.

But they also have the potential to be one of the biggest disappointments too. It’s really that simple.

As far as the fracas from Wednesday though, that is simple too. It’s exactly as Windhorst and SAS describe it above.

It’s business as usual today. Everything will be just fine.