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Q: I got to ask you about the Heat, they're off to a really slow start and it doesn't look pretty on the court. What are your thoughts on this Heat team? A lot of people are talking about the Giannis and Bam pairing that it's not working out right now. What is your evaluation of this? Amare Stoudemire: “With the Miami Heat, I know two things for sure. You have a great general, Pat Riley, and you have a great deputy chief in Coach (Erik) Spoelstra. So those two guys are going to come together and figure out the proper game plan to get the team to play cohesively and figure this thing out. The players are going to lock in because they are tired of hearing all the talk about what they can and can't do. So they're going to go into the gym and lock in also. “I'm not worried about the Miami Heat. I think they're going to be able to figure this thing out. They have a great team. I feel like they're a team that can be very competitive in the Eastern Conference. So I'm not concerned with the Heat at all, man. With Bam and Giannis, two great players, they'll figure it out. “They're great players, they're All-Star caliber players. They're gonna figure it out. Trust me.”
Heat Central: Tyler Herro Miami Heat related comments in his interview on Sirius XM - Taylor Jenkins camp is the same, if not more intense than Coach Spo - Jokes the Heat aren’t the only team with culture as ‘he was told’ - The Heat held a lockout day at this past deadline because they believed a Giannis deal was done - Pat Riley saw himself in Tyler Herro - Tyler was pushing for the trade to get done as well because he wanted a new start
Baker, 54, spent the past eight seasons as a Bucks assistant coach and developed a very close relationship with Antetokounmpo during that time, but Baker was not retained when Taylor Jenkins was named the Bucks’ new head coach this offseason. Baker even served as a minister to officiate Antetokounmpo’s 2024 wedding in Greece. “I’m super grateful for the Heat organization for having me on the staff,” Baket said during a Zoom call with South Florida reporters on Thursday. “And obviously, having the relationship with Giannis played a massive part in coming here and being a part of this organization. So it was basically the relationship that I’ve had with him over the last eight years, along with talking to coach [Spoelstra] and having some conversations with Pat [Riley] and just really happy to be a part of this culture.”
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.
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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.
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.”
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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.”