MIAMI (AP) — It was only a week ago when the Miami Heat emerged from a long postgame locker room meeting following another disappointing loss, privately promising one another they would do more and publicly vowing to be better. They were 7-14 then and reeling. They’re 3-0 since and hopeful. Beating Washington once and New York twice hardly is cause for a parade, but those victories might be a needed kick-start for the reigning Eastern Conference champions. The Heat start a seven-game road trip, the franchise’s longest since January 2009, in Houston on Thursday knowing the results from the next two weeks may vault them back into the playoffs race or return them to the edge of the abyss. “There were so many things that hit us,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I just really commend the group for the mental stability and toughness, to be able to stay the course and not making excuses, not feel sorry for ourselves, not ask for pity from anyone. We have a very tough-minded group. If anybody can handle... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo came to the NBA with the goal of providing for his mother and changing her life. His first contract took care of that. And the way he sees it, his next contract sets his family up for generations. Adebayo and the Miami Heat agreed on a five-year extension that will be worth at least $163 million, the team and Adebayo's agent Alex Saratsis said Tuesday. The contract has not been signed and won't be until Adebayo completes a physical, something that is likely to occur in the next few days. It will be the richest contract in terms of total value in Heat history. “This is an accomplishment I always wanted to get," Adebayo said. “Just being able to reach this milestone and being able to generationally change my family's life and also take care of the people around me, it's a big deal to me." Adebayo will make $5.1 million this season, the final year of his rookie contract. From there, the extension will kick in with a starting salary of somewhere around $28.1 million... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Pat Riley is always looking around for ways to make the Miami Heat better. This offseason has him wondering if that improvement might come from within. The Heat president said Friday that the top offseason priority of the Eastern Conference champions “is to take care of the players that we have” such as free-agent-to-be Goran Dragic, all while maintaining salary cap flexibility to add an impact player in a 2021 offseason that could see many stars on the move. “We have a good idea of what we want to do,” Riley said in his annual end-of-season media availability. No plan can be considered completely firm yet; the NBA’s board of governors were meeting Friday, simultaneous to Riley speaking, to discuss ideas about when it might be feasible to start next season -- with Dec. 22 as the initial target for a season of about 72 games. And the financial details for next season remain unclear as well, such as the salary cap and luxury tax numbers. All that will have an obvious impact on... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic had their arms slung over the other’s shoulders as they walked out of the arena following the final game of Miami’s season, helping each other in the most painful of moments. That was the Heat way all year long. A bunch of strangers at the start of the season forged intense bonds over the next 12 months, and the result was a surprising run to the NBA Finals. Another Eastern Conference championship banner will be swaying in Miami soon, and there is no doubt that the Heat will enter next season — whenever it starts — believing that they’re among the favorites to win the 2021 NBA title. “This season has been a tremendous season for us, for me,” Dragic said. “We had a lot of bonds together. We go through good times, bad times, but we always stay together. And I think that that’s something that it’s really rare to find.” The Heat went from 10th in the East last season to second in the NBA this season, falling to the Los Angeles Lakers... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — It was June 30, 2019. The Miami Heat had an evening all planned out for their recruitment of free agent Jimmy Butler, down to every detail. They greeted him with music from Irish singer Dermot Kennedy, one of his favorites. A buffet dinner was set up, tables overlooking the water of Biscayne Bay. They had players-turned-executives Shane Battier and Alonzo Mourning there to talk about what it’s like to be part of the Heat. And then it was time to go inside, break into a smaller group, get down to business and give him the sales pitch. Butler never let Heat President Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra even get started. There was no need. He’d already picked Miami. He just hadn’t told them yet. “I was like, ‘I’m home,’” Butler said. The machinations of a sign-and-trade followed before things could be official, but just like that, the Heat had a new star and newfound hope. Season 1 of the Butler era in Miami will end on a stage that he’s never been before — the... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Bam Adebayo has not wanted much credit for anything this season, always deferring to others in the Miami Heat locker room when things are going well. Things didn’t go well Friday night. And Adebayo wanted — demanded, really — all the blame. His stat line — 13 points, eight rebounds, eight assists on 5-for-11 shooting — certainly didn’t look as abysmal as Adebayo made his effort sound after Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, when Miami fell apart in the third quarter and saw its series lead trimmed to 3-2 after a 121-108 loss to the Boston Celtics. But he didn’t like much of anything about his night and headed back to the hotel following the game vowing that he would find a way to be better in Game 6 on Sunday. “I put that game on me,” Adebayo said. “It’s not my teammates’ fault, it’s not my coaches’ fault. It’s me. I missed too many shots I should have made. Put that one on me.” No matter what the subject matter was within the handful of questions he... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Miami center Bam Adebayo went into the locker room at halftime of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals knowing that he wasn’t doing enough. He didn’t need to see video. Or talk to Heat teammates. Or check the stats. He only needed to think of his mother. “That first half wasn’t me and I had to reboot myself, man,” Adebayo said. “So, you ask yourself: Where do you come from and what’s your why? What’s your why? And for me, that’s my mom.” Marilyn Blount, this was for you. Adebayo nearly outscored the Boston Celtics by himself in the third quarter, the Heat turned the game around and went on to win 106-101 Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals — putting the kid who grew up in a single-wide trailer with a mom making something like $15,000 a year two wins away from the NBA Finals. Adebayo had four points at the half, and the Heat were down by 13. He had 17 in the second half, when Miami outscored Boston by 18. “Games are long and... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Posting the NBA’s best record once again couldn’t help the Milwaukee Bucks win a conference title, let alone a league championship.The top seed in the playoffs will spend the rest of the postseason wondering why it couldn’t ever regain its pre-hiatus form in the Disney bubble.Milwaukee was 53-12 when the coronavirus pandemic caused play to shut down for 4 ½ months. The Bucks went 8-10 after the season resumed in Florida, including a 4-1 loss in a best-of-7 Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Miami Heat.They never seemed to adapt to playing without fans as well as other teams did.“At the end of the day, every team went through that,” said Giannis Antetokounmpo, who missed all of Game 5 and most of Game 4 with a sprained right ankle. “It wasn’t just us. But maybe it affected us a little bit more.”Questions now turn to the future of Antetokounmpo, who won the MVP last season and is a finalist for the award this year. The 25-year-old forward’s contract is set to expire... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Posting the NBA’s best record once again couldn’t help the Milwaukee Bucks win a conference title, let alone a league championship.The top seed in the playoffs will spend the rest of the postseason wondering why it couldn’t ever regain its pre-hiatus form in the Disney bubble.Milwaukee was 53-12 when the coronavirus pandemic caused play to shut down for 4 ½ months. The Bucks went 8-10 after the season resumed in Florida, including a 4-1 loss in a best-of-7 Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Miami Heat.They never seemed to adapt to playing without fans as well as other teams did.“At the end of the day, every team went through that,” said Giannis Antetokounmpo, who missed all of Game 5 and most of Game 4 with a sprained right ankle. “It wasn’t just us. But maybe it affected us a little bit more.”Questions now turn to the future of Antetokounmpo, who won the MVP last season and is a finalist for the award this year. The 25-year-old forward’s contract is set to expire... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Having the NBA's best record during the regular season shows the obvious potential of the Milwaukee Bucks.It also means they haven't dealt with major on-court adversity often.They are now, facing a pivotal Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the rolling Miami Heat on Friday night. The top-seeded Bucks have dropped the first two games to the fifth-seeded Heat, marking just the fifth time this season that they've had a multi-game losing streak.“We've said it many times," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I think your character really comes through when you face adversity, when you're tested. I think the character of this group is off the charts."They are being tested now, so that theory better ring true for Milwaukee — or else.The ending of Game 2 was bizarre, a close call looking like it would take a win away from Miami — Goran Dragic’s foul of Khris Middleton with the Heat up by three in the final seconds, a play where Middleton tied... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — In a crammed schedule after the NBA's restart, rest has been hard to find.Teams played eight games in two weeks after play resumed on July 30, then jumped into the postseason. Midway through the first round, fatigue might start to show.That's why wrapping up series quickly, almost always a good thing, might be even more important this year. Miami has its chance. The Lakers and Bucks look like they still might.And Houston might regret if it let its opportunity get away.After wasting a late lead and dropping Game 3 in overtime, the Rockets look to regain control of their series against Oklahoma City when the teams meet Monday.“Playoffs, you've got some adversity somewhere and this is adversity,” Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. “Now we've got to come out, make another statement, so that's what we're going to do.”Houston had a five-point lead with under a minute remaining in regulation Saturday, before the Thunder rallied for a 119-107 victory in overtime that... [More]

The Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks have restored some sense of normalcy to these anything-but-normal NBA playoffs.The top-seeded teams in the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively, lost their openers and are now looking to take control of their series. The Lakers could pull ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday and the Bucks could take the lead on the pesky Orlando Magic.Lakers forward LeBron James has been around too long to get too worked up about one loss. He was confident the Lakers would recover from their Game 1 setback, and they looked much like their pre-pandemic selves in beating the Trail Blazers 111-88 on Thursday. “I know what we’re capable of,” he said. “I know how we’re built. I don’t compare us to anyone. I compare us to us.”The Lakers were fully aware of the challenge they would face against from the talented Blazers entering the series, led by All-Star guard Damian Lillard.“This team was in the conference finals last year,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Goran Dragic of the Miami Heat said Tuesday that he is prepared to forgo his annual offseason move back to his native Slovenia if that is what the NBA schedule necessitates.Dragic, his wife and their two children are in Miami and have no plans to leave for Slovenia amid the global coronavirus pandemic. His parents recently left Miami to return home, but the Heat guard says he’s staying.“Three days ago they flew back home because they had to, the government said that all the Slovenian citizens needed to get back,” Dragic said, referring to his parents, adding that they wore masks and gloves on their not-very-full flight back to Slovenia. “But my situation is different. Here is my home. We have health insurance in America and we have a home to go to, so we’re going to stay here.”Dragic and his family have gotten a firsthand global view of the pandemic.He’s in Miami, and so is his uncle — who is staying in the U.S. because he cannot get back to his native Serbia because Dragic... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — In deciding whether to pursue a trade for Andre Iguodala, the Miami Heat went all-in on research. They talked to people who knew Iguodala. They watched what he did last season. They took a deep dive into the analytics.And they came to a determination.“He’s elite,” Heat President Pat Riley said.Simple as that. That’s why Iguodala is now in Heat colors, and a team that wasn’t even good enough to make the playoffs last season is thinking big as it gears up for a run at the 2020 postseason. Iguodala, Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill all joined the team for a game-day shootaround practice in Sacramento on Friday to get their first taste of what life with the Heat is like.“He's an elite defender, an elite team defender, elite assist-to-turnover percentage, he ranks up into the top of those areas that are real tangible,” Riley said. “You don't lose that in seven months. And probably it was a blessing in disguise that he didn't play for seven months.Iguodala last played an NBA game in... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Each of the last nine NBA Finals have included either the Miami Heat or Andre Iguodala.They’d like to go there together now.Iguodala is about to get back on the floor, and the Heat are hoping that they’re closer to becoming legitimate contenders again. The trade sending Iguodala to Miami is official, finally getting completed on Thursday with league approval one day after the Heat struck a deal with the Memphis Grizzlies to land the 2015 NBA Finals MVP.“He won, what, three championship rings?” Heat guard Goran Dragic said in Los Angeles after the deal was agreed upon. “Happy to have him. Can't wait to pick his brain. He's going to do great things for us.”It ended up as a three-team deal: Miami sent Justise Winslow, James Johnson and Dion Waiters to Memphis, with the Grizzlies sending Iguodala, Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill to the Heat. The Grizzlies then flipped Johnson to Minnesota for Gorgui Dieng. The Grizzlies were also working on either waiving or buying out Waiters.Before... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Andre Iguodala's trade to Miami was getting closer to the finish line Thursday after the Heat and Memphis Grizzlies agreed to terms on a six-player trade, according to two people with direct knowledge of the terms.The portion of the trade involving Iguodala was agreed upon Wednesday night, as was the 2015 NBA Finals MVP agreeing to a two-year extension with Miami that will be formalized when the totality of the deal actually gets approved by the league sometime Thursday.Justise Winslow knew he was leaving Miami for Memphis on Wednesday night, as evidenced by some social-media posts and a late-night visit to his now-former locker room to pack up his belongings and wish a security guard well. Also in the deal: Dion Waiters and James Johnson leaving Miami for Memphis, with Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill leaving the Grizzlies for the Heat.Miami and Memphis were also working on a third component, that being adding Oklahoma City in what could have brought Danilo Gallinari to the Heat.... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — A person familiar with the negotiations says Andre Iguodala is headed to Miami after the Heat and Memphis Grizzlies agreed Wednesday night on his long-awaited trade.As part of the deal, Iguodala agreed to a two-year extension, with the second of those years being a team option, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has not been finalized.The person also said Miami and Memphis were still working to complete terms of what the Heat are giving up in the deal, and that a third team — Oklahoma City, in a package that would include Danilo Gallinari potentially headed to the Heat — was still in play. Oft-injured forward Justise Winslow said he was part of the deal and was headed to Memphis, the former Heat starter reaching out to fellow former Duke players Tyus Jones and Grayson Allen with a message.Jones and Allen are both members of the Grizzlies. Winslow has missed much of this season with a bone bruise in his back.Iguodala,... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Dion Waiters spoke about his issues for the first time in months Sunday, accepting responsibility for the matters that led him to being suspended by the Miami Heat on three separate occasions already this season.Waiters didn’t specifically address any incidents, including his decision to take cannabis-infused gummies on the team plane and needing emergency medical attention when that flight landed in Los Angeles. That led to a 10-game suspension in November; his other banishments were for the season opener after complaining about playing time, then a two-week one in December for continued violations of team policy.“I’m a grown man. I don’t point fingers. I’m could easily say this and that, but at the end of the day, it’s me,” Waiters said. “I made immature decisions. So, you know, I take full responsibility.”Waiters finally made his season debut for Miami on Friday, scoring 14 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Miami plays again Monday against Orlando and Tuesday... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Goran Dragic is not going to play for Slovenia in this summer’s Olympic qualifying tournament, insisting Thursday that he will not change his stance on being retired from international basketball.The Miami Heat guard has a slew of reasons why he won’t change his mind, including his looming free agency this summer, a desire to spend as much quality time as possible with his family and that at his age — he’ll be 34 in May — another offseason of playing simply wouldn’t be the best thing for his body.Dragic said after leading Slovenia to its best sports moment, a gold medal at the 2017 European championships, that he was done with the international game.“When I was younger I showed my nation that I would always play for my national team, no matter who was there,” Dragic said. “If we had a good team or a bad team, I was there. I feel like I gave everything that I have and at this point in my career, my body isn’t the same and I have to be smart.”Slovenia has not qualified for the... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Erik Spoelstra bounded into his first Miami Heat news conference of the season looking tanned and relaxed, the benefit of having nearly six months off.He's hoping next summer is much shorter.Even without the now-retired Dwyane Wade and after a season where Miami didn't make the playoffs, Spoelstra said Monday at Heat media day that there's no reason for his team to not see big opportunities this season. The Heat landed four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler in July, and go to camp starting Tuesday in West Palm Beach, Florida with Spoelstra insisting that his expectations will be at their usual lofty level."Feels good to be back," said Spoelstra, entering his 12th season as Heat coach. "We've had plenty of time this offseason to reset, recalibrate and reorganize to get ready for this season. It's been 172 days. I think that is probably 70some days too many for this organization to have during the offseason. ... We're excited. Feels like a new team, a new opportunity."There are new... [More]