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After failing the Heat’s preseason conditioning test last year, Mitchell revealed this week that team president Pat Riley told him, in May, that he needs to reduce his body fat this season. “The crazy thing,” Davion Mitchell said on the “Deuce and Mo” podcast, “is him and Spo [Erik Spoelstra] didn’t say anything about basketball at the end of the year, when you have your exit meeting, there was no basketball [talk]. It was ‘get your weight down. Be in shape. That’s all we want.’ This is Heat culture to the T.” According to Mitchell, Riley told him bluntly: “We understand the situation but this year, we’ve got to get you back down.” Mitchell listened; he said he has lost “a lot” of weight.
The Heat’s conditioning test is considered among the most daunting in the league. With most teams, “you have to run up the court three times” in one minute, Mitchell said. “Miami does it five times. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life. You’ve got to run it in one minute and you only have a two-minute break. You have to do it five times. “When I ran last year, I didn’t even pass. I wasn’t even there [training at Kaseya Center in the weeks prior]. I just had a kid. I just had my daughter, and I literally had to get on a red eye and go the gym. It was tough last year.”
Mitchell further elaborated during his appearance on the Sacramento-based podcast. “The beginning of the year last year, I was going through a lot mentally,” he said. “Having a kid. Honestly, I didn’t feel I was in the best shape at the beginning of the year last year. Spo understood that and respected everything I do. He knows how I work hard. “It was a time that I was so messed up in the summertime, there were times in camp I didn’t feel like myself. I was super quiet, not even myself. “I respected [Spoelstra] because he put me out there and made me grow as a player. He really believed in me. I was going through so much mentally, it was hard to have confidence in everything I was doing. It wasn’t basketball; it was life. People don’t understand we’re still human.”
Davion Mitchell: "I would say the intimidating part was that the end of the year you go in and Pat Riley and you talk to him. And every single time I have been like at the end of the year, we go in there like I just feel like my heart just like it is like started pumping fast. I don't know what it is, I don't know why, I don't know what it is, but it is just like all right like, but when I get in there I talk to him, like he is actually like one of the coolest guys ever, you know what I am saying? Like he will really talk about anything with you, you know what I am saying? And that is what I love about it. But I think the the Heat culture thing, when it came from when he when we first met, when we first sat down and talked and he is just talking about my body fat, all right we got to get you down, got to get you down. That literally that was the first conversation. Like we got to get you down and even this like after this season he was like all right, like last year we understand the situation, but this year we got to get you back down. Like you got to get to a certain percentage."
The statue will be unveiled April 9, 2027, before the Lakers' game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. .... Jackson will be the ninth member of the Lakers with a statue at Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Chick Hearn, Magic Johnson, Pat Riley, Jerry West, O'Neal and Bryant (who has two). The statue was commissioned by the Lakers to be designed and created by Omri Amrany of Rotblatt Amrany Studio.
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Anthony Chiang: Pat Riley on Klay Thompson: “Klay is one of the most iconic players to ever suit up in the NBA. A four-time battle tested World Champion who will fit perfectly into his role as an all-around player at both ends of the court. We all talk about his shooting skill, but there is so much more he brings to the game. We are blessed that Klay chose the Heat in our quest to challenge for championships.”
Doc Rivers’ career coaching the Orlando Magic (1999-2004), Celtics (2004-2013), Clippers (2013-2020), Philadelphia 76ers (2020-23) and Milwaukee Bucks (2023-26) earned him a place on the league’s top 15 coaches of all-time list a couple of years ago, and he’s had phenomenal success most coaches can only dream of having. Only five coaches in NBA history have more victories than Rivers’ 1,194 regular-season wins. Only Popovich (1,390), Don Nelson (1,335), Lenny Wilkens (1,332), Jerry Sloan (1,221) and Pat Riley (1,210) have more. He’s coached the fourth-most games in league history (2,060). Among coaches with at least 1,000 games on the sidelines, Rivers has the ninth-highest regular-season win percentage (58.0 percent). A former staffer under Rivers said that he doesn’t feel Rivers gets as much credit as he should for his offensive creativity with X’s and O’s. “I used to look at his play designs and think, ‘Oh, that puts the defense in a real tough spot,’” former Clippers video coordinator Mo Dakhil told The Athletic.
Malcolm Brogdon on Giannis Antetokounmpo: I was there during his ascension, and he's a worker. He's the hardest worker I've played with. I think he fits the profile for the Miami Heat. He's a great fit on both sides. I think the difference with the Miami Heat is Pat Riley runs the show. He doesn't allow players to come and run the show from I've heard and what I've observed since I've been in the NBA. That's going to take a balancing act between Riley and Giannis. And then, of course, they have a great head coach [in Erik Spoelstra]. I think it will work for them. I don't know if they're a championship team, I wouldn't go that far, but having a Giannis, it gives you a chance.
But the trophy that Adebayo continues to chase is the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. He has played in two NBA Finals (2020 and 2023) during his career since being drafted by the Heat in 2017, but has yet to win a title. Adebayo’s hope is the Heat’s offseason addition of two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo will help him reach that goal in the coming years. “You look forward to it,” Adebayo said Sunday when asked about the Heat’s blockbuster trade for Antetokounmpo. “You look forward to the excitement around the season. I feel like Pat [Riley] has been trying to get somebody at that star level for a while now. So being able to have that shift and that change, we’re looking for growth. We’re looking to obviously win games and have some growth.” Adebayo and Antetokounmpo, who share the same agent in Alex Saratsis, already worked out together in Las Vegas in July. “We’re ready to get to work,” Adebayo said of his initial conversations with Antetokounmpo following his move to the Heat. “The goal is to win a championship. That’s his mindset. We have a like mindset when it comes to that. So those conversations were really about winning.”
When asked who his favorite Miami Heat teammate was, Bam Adebayo promptly said, “I’m gonna have to go with Giannis (Antetokounmpo).” “You look forward to the excitement around the season,” Adebayo said of his reaction to Miami acquiring Antetokounmpo. “I feel like (Heat team president) Pat (Riley) has been trying to get somebody of that star level for a while, so being able to have that shift change and that change … man, we’re looking for growth and to obviously win games.”
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Heat Central: Pat Riley admits he has given up full control over almost everything in the Heat organization: “I love the people I work with, they’ve been with me 30 years… All the department heads, I’ve given up control. Which was the hardest thing for me to do. To give up control over almost everything and every decision, everything… I don’t say give up the power because I don’t think I ever had it. I was given a title by Micky as the head coach and president” (Via @LeBatardShow)
Heat Central: The Miami Heat’s main priority is to add shooting and Klay Thompson is at the TOP of the list, per @ShamsCharania “They want shooting. That is the priority. I know what Pat Riley said ‘I want playmaking’. I think that was a special case to LeBron James…. But now they’re really looking for shooting and Klay Thompson is at the top of their list”
"You can see from the end of the season ... the emotional attachments and how hard it is to go away from a Miami and go away from a Cleveland," Paul said on his "Game Over" podcast with Max Kellerman. "Who wouldn't want to play with Steph Curry and Draymond Green. I'm seeing the emotional roller coaster every single day. "... Home is home [in Cleveland]. Miami is Miami. It's Pat [Riley]. ... I think that everyone was at some point leading the race."
Heat Central: Chris Bosh speaks on making things right with the Heat organization when he got his jersey retired: “It was really on the Heat to do that. Speaking with those in charge, Pat Riley, Nick and Micky, they were so cordial during the process. We had to make amends. There was some battles with me trying to come back and play and all that stuff. Having my name up there in the rafters next to Shaq, D Wade, Hardaway, Haslem, that’s the greatest. Alonzo mourning. I have to stunt on the NBA players. If you think you’ll have a career like mine you gotta go to Miami and look up there. You gotta long way to go. It’s a long way up there… if you’re lucky you get to do what you love. I love basketball… two championships, I couldn’t make it up if I wanted too.” (Via nbataketwo YT)