The Miami Heat came up just short of another chance to compete for the coveted Larry O’Brien Trophy last season. Off the back of a Jimmy Butler close three-point miss, just slightly off, the Miami Heat were eliminated in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals by the Boston Celtics.
Here’s the thing though and yes, everyone including the Celtics had injuries to contend with, but the Miami Heat were down their second and third-best scorers. Those same two guys just so also happened to be the third and fourth best overall players on the team.
While Bam Adebayo is the second-best player, because of his overall ability and two-wayedness, he isn’t the second-best scorer. The second and third-best scorers on last season’s team were Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry.
Both missed time late in their season due to injury.
The Miami Heat got all Kyle Lowry could give late in last season, but it wasn’t his best. Hopefully, his overall well-being allows for that in the coming season.
By the end of their playoff run, both were shells of themselves and were playing at less than half capacity.
On top of the physical stress on Lowry, specifically, though, there seemed to still be an extra mental and emotional stress on his shoulders as well. Missing quite a bit of time during the regular season for an undisclosed personal matter, it was still bothering him in the postseason.
Well, you know because that’s what he said out of his own mouth recently at Nick Nurse’s charity golf tournament.
Heat guard Kyle Lowry today at Nick Nurse’s charity golf tournament explaining he’s still dealing with personal reasons that kept him away from the team.
— Will Manso (@WillManso) August 4, 2022
“When it’s better I’ll talk about it more. It was definitely something that kinda derailed my whole season.”
🎥 @Raptors pic.twitter.com/CvYf70hz7m
Still managing the matter, Lowry noted that he would share in his own time. While you hope he is mentally in a better place, recent footage on social media appears to show a slimmer and more in shape Kyle Lowry that looks to be in a better place physically than he was last season, at the very least.
Again though, that can’t account for his mental headspace and what it means to be alright there. Hopefully, he continues to have as much of a handle on that situation as he can as he continues to deal with it and prepare for the coming season.