Heat makes strong statement in virtual town hall on racism: ‘We want to see change.’

The Miami Heat used its platform on Juneteenth to send a very clear message: Black Lives Matter.

It started Thursday night when the team released a powerful five-minute video on its social media platforms offering perspectives from Heat players regarding racial injustice. It continued when the Heat issued a pledge for social justice in a two-minute video released Friday morning featuring Heat owner Micky Arison, CEO Nick Arison, president Pat Riley, general manager Andy Elisburg, vice president of basketball development and analytics Shane Battier, vice president of player programs Alonzo Mourning and head coach Erik Spoelstra, among others in the organization.

The Heat capped Juneteenth — a holiday on June 19 that recognizes and celebrates the ending of slavery in the United States — with a virtual town hall that included Spoelstra, members of the coaching staff, and nearly ever player on the roster Friday afternoon. Fans who registered for the event were able to watch the town hall that was held on the Zoom conferencing platform.

“In many ways, this town hall is like our virtual team peaceful protest,” Spoelstra said to begin the Zoom session. “We are protesting against systemic racism, against the social injustices and the social inequalities and the cases of police brutality against the Black community that we see far too often. We’re fed up with it just like everybody else, and we want to see change. We also want to show full support for the Black Lives Matter movement as a team and an organization.”

Here’s some of what was discussed during the Heat’s town hall, which went on for about an hour ...

▪ Jimmy Butler on the importance of Juneteenth: “This day, it really celebrates freedom and our chance to better ourselves. So with the movement and the whole Black Lives Matter thing now, I think it’s very, very, very important to realize how important and how crucial this national holiday is.”

▪ Udonis Haslem reflected on conversations with his father about the death of Arthur McDuffie and the 1980 race riots that ensued in Overtown following the acquittal of the officers involved.

“For me, not being educated on a lot of this, I was young and I really didn’t know,” Haslem said. “I knew the McDuffie riots and I knew what happened. But I didn’t know the details of it until I actually sat down and spoke to my father about it. It just continues to let me know to continue to do my part in making a change because it’s crazy how something like that can continue to happen.”

▪ The town hall featured questions submitted by fans in advance. The first question asked Heat players about the first time they remember experiencing racism.

Haslem brought up a time he was arrested for what he was told was improper window tinting.

“The excuse was your window was tinted and the car could have been stolen,” Haslem recalled. “But if the car is stolen, I’m sure you ran the tag before you pulled me over. That’s protocol ... It was a weird moment.”

Solomon Hill’s memory has to do with his hair.

“I used to cut my hair because of what other people said about my hair,” Hill said. “My first experience was as a kid, having my hair long, having an Afro. I do have a different texture than most people, and people just coming up to touch my hair. Like I’m some dog that’s being walked.”

Butler pointed to the time he heard a kid “that was no older than maybe six” call him the “n-word” while he was walking out of a store.

“In my head, the kid doesn’t know any better,” Butler said. “Kids, they just do stuff and they just speak their truth. ... The first thing that popped in my head was you had to have taught him that. He doesn’t know that. ... There are things that you teach kids, and you’re choosing to teach your kid hate. It was so confusing to me.”

▪ Meyers Leonard said on the topic of racism: “To be completely honest with you, it’s a pretty uneasy feeling for a few reasons. No. 1, I was raised to love all people. I think anybody who has been around me or knows me well knows that. ... I was also raised to know right from wrong, period. For years and years, what has gone on is incredibly wrong.

“It’s hard to understand because I’m white. I have white privilege. That is a fact. It doesn’t matter if I grew up with nothing, I still have white privilege. ... I’m just going to continue to educate myself, continue to learn from my teammates.”

▪ Goran Dragic admitted “if I’m honest, I’m not comfortable ... because I don’t know what to say.”

“I’m coming from a different part of the world,” said Dragic, who grew up in Slovenia. “In our country, we don’t have that problem right now. But I acknowledge it because I know, I see. ... The only thing I can do is try to teach myself and try to teach my kids and try to learn as much as possible.”

▪ Hill: “If you don’t want change, then how could you call yourself a true American? ... It’s going to continue to be a problem until we come together and do what’s right. It’s simple — just do what’s right.”

Hill mentioned the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the Black community, revealing he lost a cousin recently to the illness.

“What we want, is what is owed to us, the same rights as everybody else,” Hill said.

▪ When asked how players can use their platform to speak about social justice issues when the season resumes at Disney in late July, Bam Adebayo said: “My whole thing is once we get to the bubble and get to be on national television, they can’t stop what we say when we get on national television. ... Once we get on national television, we have a platform where we can touch the nation.”

▪ Spoelstra closed the town hall by stressing the importance of voting.

“It’s not just about the presidential election,” Spoelstra said. “It’s about mayors, commissioners, police chiefs, judges, state attorneys, school board commissioners. We have to educate ourselves. Those are the people that can really make the changes that we all want to see. I’ll be the first to admit, I have quite a bit of work to do in that area.”

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In the fight for social justice, the Heat has pledged to donate to organizations that are working to eradicate racial inequality, support education initiatives that serve the Black community and help more Black students attend college, provide opportunities to Black students with its company mentoring and internship programs, support voter registration initiatives that make it easier for more people to vote, give all Heat staff paid time off on Election Day to vote, designate Juneteenth as a permanent paid holiday for employees of the organization, and partner with Black-owned businesses in the community.

The Heat also honored the Black Lives Matter movement by displaying names of individuals killed by police brutality and/or racism on the giant video screen outside of AmericanAirlines Arena on Friday.