After losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in humiliating fashion and getting eliminated from the playoffs on Monday night, Miami Heat players and coaches returned to Kaseya Center for exit interviews Wednesday.
This is our running blog of everything notable that was said.
Erik Spoelstra
On the impact of the Jimmy Butler drama on the season:
“It certainly had an impact. Always second-guessing what we could have done. It is not as if that would have moved the needle for us to be first in the conference. That’s unrealistic.
“It was a good five-year run. When things end, often times they end not as loudly as this. But it ends where there’s something. We all feel like it didn’t have to go to that level. We have clarity now. We have turned the page. We are moving on.”
“The memories will be the last four weeks. The rest of the season was a grind. We even started to turn the corner during the [10-game] losing streak. You felt the momentum and it led to the play-in [wins].
“I’ve never been in a situation like that to keep a locker room together. That was an invigorating challenge. I hope I’m better for it, in a lot of ways, from a leadership.. emotional.. execution standout. And even X’s and O’s.”
On Bam Adebayo’s leadership during the season.
“I love seeing Bam leadership being put to the fire, and that’s what it was. He has accepted the captainship for sure. It’s one thing to do that when you’re playing well. He wasn’t playing his best basketball [early in the season], but he was still leading. That was a big step for him. There are a lot of guys who would be pointing fingers. He did the same thing when everyone was looking [for reasons] in March. That speaks to his character.”
On getting swept by the Cavaliers.
"We deserve the criticism, we deserve the embarrassment. Those last two games are not what our organization is about."
"We have huge, massive expectations in this building."
On finishing another season with a bottom-10 offense.
“In our minds, once we were able to get some consistency with the roster, with rotation, with the style of play, we were definitely making progress that left several weeks of the season.”
Davion Mitchell
On his impending free agency:
“I don’t know what the future holds, and I’m not gonna get into all of that. But I loved being here, love my teammates.”
“Coach Spo told me the first day to be yourself…. Being here, I kinda just fit right in.”
“I haven’t really thought about it or talked about it with my representation. There’s a long summer where we’re gonna have a lot of talks about it. And when we do, I’ll be prepared for that.
“I don’t really know [what to expect], I’ve never been in this situation before, so I’m just waiting to talk to my agency.”
Kel’el Ware
On potentially being named to the All-Rookie team.
“I never really cared that much about achievements or things like that. I just like to hoop.”
On what he wants to get better at this summer:
“Getting stronger.”
Haywood Highsmith
On how the Jimmy Butler chaos impacted the locker room.
“I try to let the FO handle that and focus on myself - to be honest with you - and focus on the team. I think for the team, we tried to rally around each other.”
“We didn’t have nothing against him. He didn’t want to be here, he didn’t want to be here. I’m glad he got what he wanted.”
“Obviously, it was kind of weird at first, but we focus on basketball.”
Alec Burks
“I learned a lot. I’m in my 15th year, I still learned something. I hope I can come back.”
“I learned Spo can manage anything, coach through anything. He did a great job bringing the locker room together. Him and Bam. Bam did a lot for the team”
Jaime Jaquez Jr.
On a challenging season in which he was in and out of the lineup.
“I take a lot away. It was an extremely humbling experience. Sometimes things don’t go your way.”
“I’m taking it all with me in the summer. Just gonna get right back to work. Happy that I got to spend this time with a great group of guys and enjoy the moments off the court as well as on it. It was just a learning experience.”
“Definitely making it fuel to the fire. Really excited to get into this offseason.”
“Sometimes you need that in your life, to get humbled and set back to propel you forward.”
On working on his jumper
“A lot of repetition, a lot of mental work, a lot of film. Understanding where I need to put my hand on the ball and my cadence [on my shot].”
On how he’s feeling physically.
“I’m 100%.”
“Looking forward to connecting with my teammates throughout the season, work with them and make some changes.”
Bam Adebayo
On how the team handled the Jimmy Butler drama.
“I feel like Spo tried to do his best to make the team focus on the main thing.”
“I handled it as professional as possible, and my teammates know that.”
On his increased 3-point shooting and next steps.
“I wouldn’t say a game full of 3s. I would say, just keep ‘em honest… keeping teams honest is the biggest thing. I don’t think I should start jacking 15 3s. I don’t think that’s ideal, in my mind.”
On potential changes to the roster.
At the end of the day, I want to win. So I can't really go into the logistics of the tweaks and everything. That’s more of a Pat Riley question. And I hope you can ask that question to him and he doesn’t blow you off and ignore you. He knows my mentality, he knows we want to win.
On Kel’el Ware.
Adebayo said he was begging Spoelstra to play Ware earlier in the season. Says Ware can “impact winning.”
“He’s a great teammate, ready to sacrifice for the betterment of the team. He’s a great player in this league. He’s one we will be constantly be talking about every year, could be in contention for DPOY. He has the showcase and can show it.”
Nikola Jovic
“I think this could be the first summer where I have time to improve my game.”
On the Jimmy Butler drama:
“It was weird because I have never experienced anything like that before. … I focused on whatever I needed to focus on. … He got what he wanted, and we’re happy for him.
“It was a weird stretch. I feel like some of us, especially guys like Tyler and Bam, they for sure got better out of it because I think they learned.”
Pelle Larsson
Says he plans to compete for Sweden in EuroBasket.
“Very excited to see what that team is going to look like and what we can do.”
“We don’t get to do the Olympics in a country like Sweden, so that’s our biggest competition.”
On what he can improve on.
"Get more comfortable with the ball in my hands… and making plays for others. Keep defending at a higher level… I think I learned a lot from this year.”
Kyle Anderson
On what changed from the two games in Cleveland to the two games in Miami.
"They looked like a better team without Garland on the floor. They were able to dictate tempo and get more stops on defense… Every series is different. I’m not saying they’re different without Garland. But that was tough on us."
On Adebayo and Herro’s leadership.
"Bam was awesome. Bam and Tyler. They, the leaders of this team, they bring their hard hat to work every day. I’m not just saying that because it’s cliche or I’m supposed to. They are fun to be around."
Tyler Herro
When asked about recent viral comments about Jimmy Butler.
“We could be 0-82 and I would never say we need somebody to win.”
On his growth as a player this season.
Personally, the sky’s the limit. I haven’t necessarily won how I wanted to win or would love to win in this league.
On his contact extension
“Big deal? Not the biggest deal but I would love to be here. The front office, the organization, the city, everyone knows how much I love Miami. Been here since I was 18, 19, got two kids here.”
“… If it doesn’t get done in October, I think we can get it done next summer, but it might be a little bit of a higher price (laughs).”
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