Winderman: Will NBA, Heat fizzle without a bubble? Pat Riley offers thoughts | Commentary

The Miami Heat caught lightning in a bubble this summer. Soon, a reality check will follow.

For all the NBA has successfully accomplished in recent months in completing last season in its quarantine setting at Disney World, holding a draft with limited player interaction, and then pushing through free agency mere days after setting payroll figures, what is about to follow stands as arguably the most difficult challenge.

Because, to this stage, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the NFL and college football have shown that sports contested amid a pandemic outside of quarantine can be, at best, a tenuous proposition.

To his credit, Heat President Pat Riley acknowledged as much in his comments after Wednesday’s virtual NBA draft, putting into perspective what the Heat accomplished in making it to the NBA Finals during their three-month stay at the Disney bubble.

“The challenge for everybody is that it’s not going to be like the bubble,” Riley said. “The bubble was not a cakewalk for anybody, but by the end of the bubble there was a real rhythm and routine of playing every 48 hours. And that is a perfect schedule for players to play, to recover and to play and to recover and not have three or four days off and get bored.

“It’s not going to be like that now.”

Instead, the NBA, like the NFL and Major League Baseball, is moving forward with a schedule that will include frequent travel, less rigorous coronavirus testing than at Disney, and no quarantine requirements for players away from the court.

“We’re going to go back on the road, you’re going to be on a plane, you’re going to go to hotels, you have to deal with the possibility of COVID being a problem,” Riley said. “We’re just going through all of the protocols at the stadium here to make sure that we can get through this thing in a manner where we don’t lose players.”

And, yet, that almost seems inevitable, just as it was for the Miami Marlins, and just as it has been for the Miami Dolphins, University of Miami and Inter Miami CF. In those cases, including coaches, as well.

“So we’re now heading into different territory,” Riley said.

And heading there quickly, with camp in session less than two months after the Heat fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Oct. 11.

Already, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka is talking about a maintenance plan for LeBron James, something the Heat assuredly will have to consider for Jimmy Butler and other high-usage veterans from last season.

“That’ll just be a balancing act throughout the season,” Pelinka said during his post-draft comments, “recognizing that there was an extremely short layoff between championship and the start of the season and kind of figuring out what’s best for LeBron, what’s best for his health, the team’s health, what’s best for the league and kind of walking that carefully and thoughtfully throughout the year.”

If nothing else, Riley said the success in the bubble allowed Erik Spoelstra and the Heat to forge a sense of identity that will already be in place for the start of camp, even, with the league’s anticipated protocols making it a camp like no other.

“I think that’s one of the things about Spo and his playbook, it doesn’t change too much,” Riley said. “He’s developed a style on both ends of the court, as you see, that he wants to play. It’s a little bit complicated at times, but when you have guys that have basketball IQs that are real high and are very skilled, that you get them back in sync.

“Other than getting their legs going, getting them in shape, but getting them in rhythm to play 5-on-5, I think that’s one of the advantages of trying to run the team back instead of bringing in a whole group of new players.”

IN THE LANE

WAITING GAME: Justise Winslow last played in an NBA game on Jan. 8, when he went 16 scoreless minutes for the Heat in a road victory over the Indiana Pacers. He then went back on the Heat injured list with a lower-back bone bruise, was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies at the Feb. 6 NBA trading deadline, continued his rehabilitation there, and then was forced to shut down his season in the NBA’s Disney World quarantine bubble in July due to a hip injury. Now, the wait continues for the Heat No. 10 pick in the 2015 draft, with Memphis executive vice president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman revealing in the hours after Wednesday’s NBA draft that Winslow will miss the start of the season, yet to make his Grizzlies debut. “It’s unfortunate that the NBA season is starting a little bit earlier than I think we were budgeting for,” Kleiman said of the league’s Dec. 22 start. “I would say that Justise is going to return early this season. It might not be day one, but no setbacks. He’s been in our facility in Memphis, working out twice a day, doing an awesome job in his rehab and we’ll be excited to have him early in the season.”

NIGERIAN IMPACT: Nigerian ancestry already was a thing with the Heat and became an even bigger thing for the Heat and the NBA with Wednesday’s draft. Selected at No. 20 by the Heat, Precious Achiuwa was born in Port Harcourt. The previous year, the Heat added KZ Okpala in the second round, with the forward out of Stanford the son of Nigerian parents. In addition, the fathers of Bam Adebayo and Andre Iguodala are Nigerian, with Heat guard Gabe Vincent the first member of the Nigerian national team to advance to the NBA Finals. With Jazz No. 27 pick Udoka Azubuike joining Achiuwa, Wednesday marked the first time a pair of Nigerians were selected in the first round. Others of Nigerian descent selected Wednesday were Isaac Okoro, Onyeka Okongwu, Zene Nnaji, Desmond Bane, Daniel Oturu and Jordan Nwora.

CANDID ARRIVAL: University School product Vernon Carey Jr., selected at No. 32 out of Duke by the Charlotte Hornets, found himself part of a particularly candid introductory media session. First there was Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak offering up, “I think he was a little bit out of shape,” of Carey’s play during his lone season with the Blue Devils. Then there was Carey’s revelation off a crash diet after the season. “I lost 30 pounds. I’m at 240 right now,” the 6-foot-10 big man said. “Nothing really changed, just the portions that I eat.” Despite falling out of the first round, it still could fall into place for the son of the former Miami Dolphins tackle, with Cody Zeller the lone center under contract on Charlotte’s season-ending roster.

COURSE COMMENT: His commentary on last weekend’s Masters limited to social media, Andre Iguodala will find himself with a more direct audience for the Friday’s edition of “The Match.” The Heat forward will serve as a TNT analyst on the charity match pitting Phil Mickelson and Charles Barkley against Peyton Manning and Iguodala’s former Golden State Warriors teammate Stephen Curry. Also scheduled to be featured on the broadcast are Peyton’s brother Eli Manning and LPGA golfer Michelle Wie. Tiger Woods’ niece Cheyenne Woods will serve as an on-course reporter. The event is a fundraiser for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

EARLY HOLIDAY: Even amid a pandemic and the NBA’s altered schedule, the Heat pushed through this past week for their 29th Thanksgiving Celebration, with former Heat players Alonzo Mourning, Glen Rice and Shane Battier helping to distribute 600 holiday meals in Overtown, as part of a team outreach that extended to Lauderdale Lakes. Among companies assisting in the effort were Florida Blue, Vico Painting, Goya Foods, FOX Sports Sun, Hairclub, One Sotheby’s International Realty and Papa John’s Pizza. Also distributed were packages from Feeding South Florida, including milk, protein, produce and an assortment of nonperishable goods.

NUMBER

15. Number taken by Heat first-round pick Precious Achiuwa, once previously worn over the franchise’s 33 seasons by Terrence Rencher, Chris Gatling, Wang Zhi-Zhi, Mark Blount, Mario Chalmers, Okaro White and, at the start of last season, two-way player Daryl Macon.

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