History Says Spo, Jimmy Butler, And Udonis Haslem Spat Galvanizes Miami Heat

The Miami Heat are coming off one of their more terrible defeats of the season and to make it all just that much worse, they are the talk of the sports and NBA landscape. The Miami Heat made all the headlines on Thursday, as the team got into it a little hoo-ha on the sidelines during their recent loss to the Warriors.

Yes, this one.

While many were quick to share their sentiments, Coach Erik Spoelstra would go on to say a few things after the game.

After jokingly stating that they were all only making dinner plans (great one Coach), Spo would go on to express what everyone should all know.

This wasn’t about beef, not a real one anyway but rather a group of hungry, losing, competitors who are not only in the midst of losing a game against a team missing, arguably, their three best players, but im the second consecutive game in a similar scenario.

The Philadelphia 76ers beat them in their previous contest Monday without Joel Embiid and James Harden in the lineup. Everything about this scenario sounds bad, right?

Miami Heat: History Says Spo, Butler, Haslem Spat Galvanizes Them

Well, it should, because it is. You are not supposed to be a title hopeful and the number one team in your conference, but then lose to two teams missing their absolute best pieces.

It just shouldn’t happen. However, the immediate reaction and result isn’t quite indicative of the final nature of this whole thing.

In fact, this situation was actually, more than likely, intended to serve to galvanize the bunch.

Sounds crazy, huh?

First of all and as seen above, it’s not just something that is the opinion from this direction. Secondly and to Winderman’s notion from above, everything about Coach Spoelstra’s “clipboard toss” was heavily orchestrated and calculated.

Yes, you still have to love that dude. Lastly though and well, a series of “lastlys”, let’s look at a few incidents from the Miami Heat’s history that might illuminate a path in this one—or at least provoke logical thought.

Logic—now there’s a doozy for most out there.

Miami Heat: It’s Certainly Not The First Or Last Sideline Spat In Franchise History

In the beginning of the season that LeBron James would leave the Miami Heat, King James and Rio, Mario Chalmers, would get into a little verbal tussle of their own.

According To Chalmer’s himself via an appearance on a Five Reasons Sports podcast, that altercation was all started based on the fact that Chalmers told Lebron to stop “playing like a b—h”. Now, Chalmers would also go on to say that if you know LeBron, then you know that was a trigger word for him, of sorts.

However, even after the in-game verbal back and forth and down by 14 when it happened, they would go on to win that game by three points. It must’ve worked!

There’s also this, after the game, all was well again. LeBron took to Twitter to apologize, to which Chalmers accepted and moved on.

Even further than that and though it wasn’t what the ultimate goal was to be, which had nothing to do with the confrontations throughout the year but more the uninspired NBA Finals play of the team, if you’re being honest, they would still go to those NBA Finals before getting beat by the Spurs, 4-1.

That wasn’t the only incident that exists in Miami Heat history though. Heck, that’s not even the only one surrounding the Big 3 Era.

Miami Heat: The ‘Big 3’, As A Trio, May Have Wanted Spoelstra Out Of There Early

The Big 3 Era had more than their fair share of ups and downs. Along the way to two title wins and two defeats in the NBA Finals, four straight NBA Finals appearances nonetheless, there would be more to chew on other than just the aforementioned incident between Mario Chalmers and LeBron James.

Do you all remember that time early in the Big 3 Era where LeBron bumped into Spo? On top of that, it was expressed the very next day that James wanted Pat Riley on the sidelines instead.

Here is what Riley said occurred the next day, as he called the Big 3 into his office.

"“They just said, ‘We’re not feeling it,’ or something like that,” Riley told Thomsen. “We talked about the typical things that we have to do, have patience and all of that stuff."

"“And I remember LeBron looking at me, and he said, ‘Don’t you ever get the itch?’ I said, ‘The itch for what?’ He said, ‘The itch to coach again?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t have the itch.’ He didn’t ask any more questions, and I didn’t offer any more answers. But I know what it meant, and I always go back and wonder about what he was thinking at that time. He walked out scratching his leg like it was itching.”"

This was clearly LeBron James trying to send a message to the Godfather, especially having already expressed an interest in that being the case prior to joining the Miami Heat, according to this same exchange with ESPN.

Though, again, they would lose that NBA Finals too and to the other team from Texas with the legendary power forward, Dirk Nowitzki in this case, you have to see that season as a success too.

Yes, the ultimate goal is always a title and when you have that collection of talent, you should win it all. However, they were defeated by a legend, while that defeat had little to do with the friction that had occurred early in the season.

After that incident, they were forced to work things out, which they did. So much so, it would be the beginning of one of the most dominant four-year runs in NBA history.

Miami Heat: The Franchise’s Best Ever, Dwyane Wade, Isn’t Immune Here Either

Did you think that was all of the Miami Heat history lessons for today? No, no, no, there is more to discuss.

In fact, some out there are probably saying, “well, all of these occurred early enough in the year, where they could recoup, not nine games prior to the end of the regular season.” They would be right, so far.

The infamous incident between Coach Spo and the greatest player in franchise history, the one and only Dwyane Wade, is one that comes to mind. Talk about being deep in the season.

This one happened during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against a massively hungry Indiana Pacers team, one that had begun to fashion themselves as one of the Miami Heat’s Eastern Conference rivals at the time.

After a series of uneventful Dwyane Wade plays, in which he was bad, Coach Spoelstra would proceed to let him know about it. Wade was, again, bad in those sequences but didn’t want to hear it.

However, here were the sentiments from after the game, per USA Today’s Scott Gleeson

"After the game, it was as if it never happened. “I don’t even remember what you all are talking about,” Wade told reporters. “That happens,” Spoelstra said. “Anybody that has been part of a team or has been a coach or been a player, you have no idea how often things like that happen. That was during a very emotional part of the game. We were getting our butt kicked. Those exchanges happen all the time during the course of an NBA season.”"

To spoil the ultimate ending though, the Miami Heat would go on to win the NBA Finals that year. But, the above situation sounds all too familiar, doesn’t it?

Miami Heat: It’s All Literally What The ‘Culture’ Is, Whether You Get It Or Not

The aforementioned handling of the situation between D.Wade and Coach Spo was handled the same way that the most recent scenario was. It was treated like what it will be in the grand scheme of it all, no big deal.

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said it best on Thursday’s First Take. Here are a few of his thoughts.

"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."

That’s how it is supposed to be done. That’s what the Miami Heat Culture is all about.

They will fix them, but things like this happen. When you work as hard towards a collective goal in as intense a manner as the Miami Heat require you to do so, things are bound to boil over.

That’s just what happened. These weren’t or aren’t the only scenarios across Miami Heat history either.

Take the Gary Payton and D.Wade scenario from Ira Winderman’s earlier linked tweet. Take the incident between Shaquille O’Neal and Pat Riley.

You know, the one that gave us this beautiful Udonis Haslem quote.

"It wasn’t even a fight, they were just going at it. The fight was me trying to hold Shaq back and he threw me like a sack of potato chips…I’m trying to save Pat’s old ass and Shaq grabbed me and swung me. He threw me down like that and I was just trying to stop him. Imagine if he really wanted a piece of me? I would’ve had to tase him!"

Yea, one of those incidents may have eventually seen the dismissal of one of the greatest big men ever, but the Big 3 was formed just a season or so later, so that too wasn’t the worst thing in the world. The point of it all is this.

This has happened before and more often than not, in overwhelming fashion, the incident goes on to galvanize the Miami Heat team, in some form or fashion towards whatever the best thing is for them at that point. Perhaps that’s winning a title or perhaps it’s more geared towards building one of the most iconic ensembles to ever grace the NBA hardwood.

Whichever the case may be, or wherever it falls in between on that spectrum—that’s, kind of, the whole point.

It probably won’t be the last time it happens, though perhaps not in front of that big an audience, but it won’t be that much of a deal then either, if you know what team you are watching that is. So, expect this one to be one that you look back on in the near future, perhaps even saying “hey, that was when it really all started to come together”.

And you know what, for a team that’s already been one of the best in the league and the East’s best for most of the year—that could be the real scary thing.

For everybody else, of course.