Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem: The core of the Miami Heat
As we all know, LeBron James got a lot of negative attention for switching teams after playing in Cleveland for the first 7 years of his career. Some were mad for the way he did it, some were mad for him taking so long to make his decision and some were just mad that he left.
Crazy as it seems though, he wasn't the only guy to leave a team after playing there for a while. Several guys did it, but since LeBron is best around and he did it in such a glorified way....lets just say that I don't think all the negativity is undeserved. Regardless, he is a grown man and knew what he was doing and I have to assume was well aware of how people were going to react.
Forgive me for not getting to my point quicker. LeBron's tenure in Cleveland got me thinking about what players had been with their teams the longest. Believe it or not, there are six guys in the NBA on six different teams who have played for those teams for over 10 years.
Heat add Da'Sean Butler to the mix
The Heat announced yesterday that they have added yet another player to the payroll. The team now sits at 18 guys under contract with the addition of 2nd round pick Da'Sean Butler. Terms of the deal were not released. Butler isn't likely to make the team this season but has a very bright future after his very successful collegiate career with West Virginia.
In four seasons Butler averaged 14.4 points on 44% shooting (35% from downtown), 5.5 boards, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steals. He fell in the draft to the 42nd pick after suffering a torn ACL during the NCAA Final Four last march. He has been rehabbing at the AAA all summer and holds out hope that he'll be able to participate in training camp, but I wouldn't count on that.
Usually it takes athletes close to a year to fully recover from a torn ACL but Butler is pushing to get back in 6 months...which I just can't see happening. When he does come back though, then he can spend a lot of time either working with the team or playing elsewhere for the remainder of the 10-11 season (D-League, overseas, etc.). In doing that, I like his chances of making the 11-12 Heat team.
Kobe Bryant interview yields nothing Heat fans should be upset with
Something that we should all be expecting and even accepting as a certainty is that there is going to be a ton of Heat-bashing as we get closer to training camp. This is something that is going to be coming from all angles, regardless of the source. As basketball becomes relevant again there are going to be more and more stories finding things wrong with the Heat, their roster and the way they went about making that roster.
Friday afternoon on ESPN's ‘Jim Rome is Burning', a pair of Los Angeles Lakers got the chance to take over the show. Derek Fisher sat down and interviewed his teammate Kobe Bryant on a bevy of topics, and I bet you can guess what came up pretty quickly.
Kobe was asked about LeBrons process of leaving Cleveland and ‘taking his talent to South Beach', and if that would be something he could ever do. He started by saying how he and James are friends and that he didn't want to ‘take any part of that', regarding the way LeBron left Cleveland.
LeBron James working out at the AAA. Video courtesy of Heat.com
Follow Friday: The Miami Heat on Twitter
Considering how little Heat news there has been lately, I took a suggestion from TheWhiteHotHeat (and a page out of the CelticsBlog playbook and decided to put together a Miami Heat Twitter list. Keeping with the whole ‘Follow Friday' theme it seems more then appropriate to post it today.
While everything NBA related has cooled off a bit, I'm sure in the next couple weeks things should kick up a notch. Just a little over a month from now the Heat will begin training camp, which should be one of the most closely watched in the teams history.
Players
Carlos Arroyo- @carlosarroyopr
Eddie House - @real_eddie50
Mike Miller- @m33m
LeBron James- @KingJames
Chris Bosh- @chrisbosh
Mario Chalmers- @mchalmers15
Dwyane Wade- @dwadeofficial
Patrick Beverly- @patbev21
Dexter Pittman- @DEX_PITT45
Kenny Hasbrouck- @KennyHaz
Coverage
Mike Wallace- @WallaceNBAHeat
Jason Jackson- @TheJaxShow
Ira Winderman- @IraHeatBeat
Other
@FakePatRiley
@TheBoshPit
@WhiteHotTweet
Eddie House thinks the Heat will be better then 08 Champion Celtics
Hey guys...I'm sorry for the lack of postings the last few days but I've been pretty under the weather. Unfortunately I'm still on the road to recovery so this will be short and sweet.
Eddie House made some interesting comments yesterday to his hometown newspaper, the Arizona Republic. House was asked to compare his current situation of joining the star-studded Miami Heat roster to when he joined up with the Boston Celtics back in 2007-08.
Dwyane Wade talks to SB Nation
In advance of Dwyane Wade's fourth annual Wade's World Weekend taking place in Chicago over the next few days, SB Nation's Andrew Sharp got the chance to talk to the Miami Heat superstar about Chicago, his visit with President Obama and more.
Giving the Miami Heat franchise some due credit, LeBron's GQ article and more...
I was going to start this off by saying ‘the biggest star to play for the Miami Heat..." when talking about LeBron James and his interview in GQ Magazine. Before even getting to that, the statement I was going to make sprung up a debate in my head. Who is the biggest star to ever play for the Heat?
Thinking of the candidates on that list, its pretty cool that our franchise has had so many great players. Obviously there is Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron. In our teams past, the next guy would be Shaquille O'Neal and then the lesser guys like Zo and Timmy. And a step below that you can add Glen Rice, Dan Majerle and even Penny Hardaway, who played for the Heat but had all his best years elsewhere.
It makes me think about how our franchise cant be considered a young one anymore. The Heat are over 20 years old now, they have won an NBA title and 7 division titles. In 14 of their 22 seasons the Heat have made the playoffs, and without looking up every other team in the NBA's first 22 seasons I can it's a safe bet that only a few teams could make that same claim.




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