Sioux Falls Spotlight: Bryson Warren

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Everyone has dreams in life, but few people get to live their dreams. Bryson Warren is one of those few people. Like other people growing up, Warren had dreams of being a professional basketball player. Fast forward to today, and Warren is living out that dream on the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Getting to live his dream was not by accident, it was all methodically thought out. 

Warren was a dominant player in high school. In his sophomore year, he averaged 24.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and added 2.5 steals a game. Warren would lead his team to the state title game and was named the Arkansas high school player of the year, the first sophomore ever to win the award. He was ranked the 14th player in his class at the time and had offers from many top programs around the country. This is when his path went unconventional. Instead of continuing High school basketball and then going to college, Warren decided to sign with Overtime Elite (OTE). Then after two years of OTE Warren chose to enter the G-League draft, where he was taken with the 13th overall pick by the Skyforce.

Not many players choose this route, so what was the thought process?

“I knew that going to OTE would put me in a position to play against the best competition which would allow me to get better,” Warren said. “Going against Amen and Ausar Thompson daily, who were just picked 4th and 5th in the NBA draft helped me improve my game tremendously. With a chance to be coached by Kevin Ollie, who won a National Championship and who is currently an assistant Coach with the Brooklyn Nets, is just an amazing learning experience.”

It was not about trying to be on social media or amassing followers, like other players’ motives for joining the league. It was about putting himself against the best competition he could be against, He wanted to improve his game.

Warren isn’t afraid of a challenge; he embraces it: “I realize that this is a business, so I have to give it my all every day.”  

This quote suggests the reason how Warren can live his dreams, he is obsessed with being the best player he possibly be. Talk to anyone around Warren and they all mention one thing, his work ethic. It is impossible to have a conversation about him without it being brought up. Bryson Warren’s agent, James Dunleavy, raves about his work ethic. In a 10-minute conversation, Dunleavy constantly brought up how hard Warren works. “He went to the G-League to be the best player he can be” and “He loves to work hard and be in the gym” were just two of the things that Dunleavy said. His work ethic is also clear in his play on the court. No one on the Skyforce, and maybe the whole G-League, has improved more than Warren from the start of the year. From game to game, he looks more comfortable and is showing great progress. He started the year as a guy who could knock down open threes but has blossomed into a well-rounded player. He has shown his ability to be a point guard and run an offense. The numbers back this up also as he has increased every major statistic in the regular season over his averages in the Showcase part of the season. To make it in the world of basketball you have to be willing to give it everything you have, Warren is doing just that. 

 

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Arguably more impressive than his basketball talent is the type of person Bryson Warren is. Young players tend to have an adjustment period when they make the jump to high-level professional basketball. A lot of times they do not get the playing time they are used to and are relegated to roles they aren’t used to playing. Warren was no different, but what is different is how he managed it. Some players get upset and close themselves off as the frustration mounts, but Warren continues to display his character. He prides himself on being a good teammate and celebrating their success.

When asked what it takes to be a good teammate he says, “I always try to respect, encourage and help my teammates be the best they can be, because it takes a team to win.” He is all about the team’s success and, though he has personal goals, he wants his teammates to succeed as well. A perfect example of his character is when I asked what made him proud of himself. I expected a typical answer to be about his basketball achievements and what he has been able to do on the court, but that was not the case.

He replied, “One of the things that I am proud of is being able to give back to the community. I have been blessed to be able to help sponsor boys’ and girls’ basketball teams that are named after me – Bryson Warren United. This allows me to be a positive role model in their lives and give back to the community.”

Given an opportunity to list his achievements and boast about his basketball career, he chose to highlight what he does off the court. He has more pride in how he can help others than his achievements. He also is not hesitant to recognize everyone who helped him along the way. Though he was afraid to list everyone, in case he missed someone, he wanted to let his coaches and trainers know that he was “thankful and grateful” for their help and support. Warren did list two people though. Who are the two specific people that Bryson Warren wanted to make sure were specifically mentioned? They go by the simple names of Mom and Dad. See Warren is a special player and has the chance to have an extensive career but the best part about him has nothing to do with his play on the court, and everything to do with who he is off the court. 

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat massacred in Toronto

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The Toronto squad pounced on the Miami Heat like a swarm of starving velociraptors. The hosts established a 30-point lead within 15 minutes on the evening of Pascal Siakam’s deportation to the Indiana Pacers. RJ Barrett surged for 17 points, stabbing the lane in transition + off the catch for dunks and floaters in the first half. Scottie Barnes supplied five of seven buckets. And deadeye Gary Trent Jr. swished four trifectas.

Without Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kevin Love, the Heat failed to protect the arc and stop dribble penetration. On the former, when the guests tried blitzing, the hosts swung the rock quickly to the corner for multiple strikes. A Raptors stampede went unanswered with 18 consecutive points in five minutes between the end of the first and the start of the second quarter.

On the other side, Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler combined for five of 11 baskets, pressuring the rim, but the rest of the team converted 37% of shots.

Kyle Lowry was ineffective, missing all his triples. Tyler Herro (or a souped-up Jerry Sichting with an Instagram account, usually) was almost a zero, lacking precision on deep shots and had one at close range emphatically rejected. Also, Barnes beat him twice off the dribble and another instance under the rim for a putback.

Through 24 minutes, while playing a third team in four nights, the Heat had surrendered 60.4% of the Raptors’ attempts. Bottom line: The group didn’t care enough. It was down 43-78, with four points on the break and a paltry deuce via second chances. Had one of coach Erik Spoelstra’s trusted lieutenants advised him to bench the starters for their failures, and he followed through, it wouldn’t have been a wrong move. Such an act could send a message of displeasure.

But in the third quarter, the defense tightened up, permitting just six of 22 shots and forcing 11 straight misses in between. The Raptors’ long jumpers were contested and help defenders were quicker to blow up drives.

Offensively, Herro erupted for nine points, maneuvering into the lane for close baskets and a corner triple after pump-faking Dennis Schröder into his team’s bench. Nikola Jović used a Butler pick to get into the paint for a nine-foot hook, scored in the open court and splashed a 3-pointer in Barnes’ face. And the stars (Adebayo, Butler) contributed 10 to the scoreboard, but it wasn’t enough.

In the frame, the Heat outearned the Raptors by 14 points, but it was still behind by 21.

In the fourth, it chopped the deficit down to 13 marks with nine minutes left, but then the Raptors logged nine of 15 baskets to close. Barnes hit backbreaking shots- a turnaround jumper at the nail with Richardson all over him after getting forced to pick up his dribble and another difficult fallaway blast on the baseline with Adebayo nearly breathing on him.

The Heat lost 97-121, with break 10 fastbreak points and six through second chances. Getting behind on the glass by eight boards resulted in the Raps registering 19 second chance points. Butler had 16 on his scoring log on 54.5% shooting. Adebayo also had 16 on seven of 13 tries.

At the postgame presser, Spoelstra said he didn’t see the early onslaught that transpired coming. “It just happened. It was an avalanche at the beginning of the game. Our starters definitely did not set the tone for the game and then it just proceeded to get worse as that first half went on…”

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Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Extremely Sad Programming Network

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Since ESPN’s fraudulent Emmy scheme was uncovered, the former “worldwide leader” has tried to bob and weave its way out of accountability.

The Athletic’s Katie Strang broke the story that ESPN abused the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ (NATAS) rules so that on-air talent could have an ineligible prize. NATAS has since banned Craig Lazarus- VP and exec producer of content, and Lee Fitting- senior VP of production (who left ESPN in August). Yet ESPN hasn’t confirmed who concocted the scheme, how it will keep public trust, or if the wronged will be compensated.

The lack of transparency is a massive middle finger to its audience, who deserves to know what people there can’t be trusted. ESPN should expose these cretins to save its reputation or industry standards, but it won’t. Keeping an in-house disaster that the public knows about quiet is the priority. But keep calm. Those perps were disciplined, ESPN assured in its press release.

Employees such as Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Chris Fowler, Desmond Howard and Samantha Ponder, were involuntarily involved in this through the deception of the higher-ups. Imagine the disappointment of waking up to a call from your boss or someone else of authority saying your skills didn’t bring home that award. And to put it in a nice box. That’s what happened to this crop of talent and others.

No doubt, it was a huge confidence boost to some (maybe all) of the people who were misled, and there was even one who gifted her prize to a friend. Putting her in a position to ask for it back is greasy and tough to forgive.

ESPN should offer those wronged restitution for this disrespect. The deceived talent wouldn’t spend too much time on the market if they were available.

While not the exact action, this theft should be demonized as seriously as plagiarism. When any media member steals another’s work and is caught, they are not protected by their employer but rather excommunicated. Not offering specifics on the punishment of the culprits is a mistake because ESPN is considered an example by various university professors lecturing their students around the country.

Future orations in academia should include a disclaimer, “Don’t worry, if you get powerful enough, you can wild out as much as you want without serious repercussions.”

Worldwide suckers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro bail out the Heat in Brooklyn after an atrocious first half

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On the second night of a back-to-back set in Brooklyn, the Heat produced its worst output of the season (31 points) in the first half of Jimmy Butler’s return. He had 10 points at intermission on a backdoor feed, plus two layups, but the offense was stuck in the mud, going uphill while jammed in second gear. The Nets were holding the visitors to 26.2% shooting and no baskets outside of the paint.

For the hosts, Nic Claxton finished over mismatches and broke the zone for a slam. Cam Thomas scored at close and long range in transition and evaded defenders for lane access in the halfcourt. And Bridges disposed of Tyler Herro, Haywood Highsmith and Nikola Jović for four of six baskets inside the arc.

At the break, the Brooklyn squad led 45-31. The guests had recorded just six fastbreak points to the Nets’ 16 and had zero second-chance marks to the hosts’ seven. Eight extra boards gave the Nets seven more tries on the goal, and its bench was outscoring the Heat’s 18-5.

Then the Heat’s offense went off like a grenade, notching 37 points in the third quarter, ignited by Herro’s consecutive triples on the break. He continued carbonizing drop coverage and connecting on a 14-foot floater in Dorian Finney-Smith’s eye, totaling a dozen points for the interval. And Butler converted all three attempts, endlessly drawing contact to the hole like a running back punishing defenders at the line of scrimmage. He accumulated 14 points

Defensively, the Heat permitted four of 12 triples and were disruptive near the hoop. Adebayo switched on to Bridges, denying his jumper at the elbow, and Butler + Lowry came up with steals.

Four possessions were wasted in the fourth off with a careless pass by Kyle Lowry into a defender’s chest, Adebayo getting ripped and setting an illegal screen and Caleb Martin traveling. But the Heat held the Nets to five of 21 shots, and Herro nailed consecutive baskets with under a minute left- a floater at the right elbow and another from 13 feet out on the left side- to force overtime.

In the extra period, Brooklyn’s Thomas beat Martin on the baseline, and Royce O’Neale swished a right-wing trifecta after the Heat blitzed up top to take a five-point lead. Next, Herro canned a right-wing banger in transition (unbelievable he wasn’t tagged).

Subsequently, Bridges received the sideline inbound, dribbling past Richardson to the paint for a turnaround jumper. The Nets led 95-91.

On the following sequence, Herro made another at the top of the key 3-pointer on a broken play when multiple defenders unsuccessfully swarmed Adebayo at the nail. When the Nets got the ball back, Bridges charged into the paint against help for a vain floater that Claxton illegally touched.

Butler then isolated Dennis Smith Jr., drawing a foul en route to the cup and buried both. The Nets still had a timeout left, but coach Jacque Vaughn didn’t use it to advance the ball up the floor. Bridges got it back, challenging three defenders for a failing jumper.

The Heat won 96-95, making 37.9% of tries with 17 fastbreak points, four off second chances and eight via turnovers. Butler had 31 on his ledger on 67% shooting and 15 of 16 made freebies. Herro recorded 29 points on half of his attempts with 11 rebounds and assisted in the on-court interview.

“It wasn’t easy in the first half,” Herro said. “Not easy in the second half either, but to come in, regroup at halftime and come in and take care of business in the second half, that’s who we are and what we do, and it’s a great win for us on the second night [of a back-to-back].

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra joked his team didn’t get the win out of the mud but instead cement. “You see that first half? That was about as ugly as it could get… So now that’s three games where we held our opponents under 100. Two out of the three have been in the mud, and that’s progress for our team.”

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Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Heat shellac the Hornets on Dwyane Wade’s Hall of Fame night

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On Dwyane Wade’s Hall of Fame night at Kaseya Center, Jimmy Butler’s understudy- Jaime Jaquez Jr.- oppressed the inferior Charlotte Hornets early, and Bam Adebayo took charge in the second half. The former scored 15 of the hosts’ first 22 points, finishing on the break, isolating PJ Washington for a layup and hooking in the lane over the mismatch. It was the highest-scoring quarter of his rookie season. (Butler was absent for the Heat (toe injury). The Hornets were missing Gordon Hayward (hurt calf) and Mark Williams (back).

Herro was off-target, producing just three points, but picked up four rebounds. And Adebayo hit a fade away in the lane and rolled for a lob after the handoff with Duncan Robinson.

For Charlotte, the high Hornet early was plea-copper Miles Bridges with eight on his scorecard. The rest of the group made two of 18 field goals as the Heat held the visitors to 16-first quarter points.

In the second frame, Ball failed to score against the Heat’s backline and was baited into deep jumpers. Heat play-by-play broadcaster Eric Reid said he was playing “unhinged.” Before the period was up, he committed two turnovers- pushing off Josh Richardson’s face and tossing the rock out of bounds instead of to Bryce McGowens- plus failing on a miserable pull-up 24-footer that his team couldn’t rebound.

Additionally, all eight 3-point attempts the Hornets hoisted were contested and it converted a sparse 33% of tries in the restricted area.

For the Heat, Duncan Robinson stripped Cody Martin and raced down the court, hitting a floater between two defenders, connected on another fastbreak layup fed by Nikola Jović and splashed a left-wing trifecta when left unchaperoned. He also had three assists, working the give-and-go action with Adebayo and finding Jović and Herro with space behind the arc in transition.

JJJ played just four minutes in the second quarter because he injured his left groin and missed the rest of the match.

At halftime, the Heat held a 52-31 advantage with 14 fastbreak points and 13 via turnovers. During the break, Wade was honored at center court as the greatest Heatle in the organization’s history by Pat Riley, who revealed his eight-foot statue is coming in the fall.

In the third quarter, the Heat saw a different Ball. He dropped 14 points ruthlessly attacking the interior and made a pair of triples. Bridges complimented him with a layup after getting loose behind a flare screen and two jumpers on the left side.

Yet on offense, Herro swished a transition 3-pointer, invaded the paint when the Hornets broke down and beat Washington + Ball going downhill.

The only thing that threatened the hosts was picking up six turnovers in the third because of poor passing and an illegal screen by Jović.

The fourth began with the Heatles above 16 points. Charlotte’s Terry Rozier emptied the tank, adding 11 to his scoring log. Ball contributed five more, and Bridges was held to zero field goals late.

On the other side, Adebayo, Robinson and Richardson combined for nine of 15 baskets- at close and long range-powering the club to victory.

The Heat won 104-87, never allowing the Hornets to take the lead. The Miami squad registered 58 paint points, 25 on the break and 17 off turnovers. On top of that, the Heat added 8.4 points per 100 transition plays, good enough for the 90th percentile of all games this season, per Cleaning the Glass.

After the game, Wade shared a moment with Butler and Adebayo on the court.

Adebayo handled the on-court interview, expressing pride for being a part of the later part of Wade’s career. On the topic of the statue, he said, “You can’t do anything but soak in knowledge from a guy like that… [The] best thing is for me to pay attention.”

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra claimed he was surprised by Riley’s announcement. “[Riley] dropped the mic on that one. He shocked all of us…”

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Adebayo, Robinson and Jaquez lead the Heat past the Mystical Ones

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The blossoming Orlando Magic’s defensive pressure put the Heat’s attack in the mud early and kept the game close the whole way. After Duncan Robinson seemingly unbuttoned the offense with consecutive triples against the drop and the Magic overhelping on Bam Adebayo in the post, the hosts endured five minutes recording just two field goals. But then Robinson set Adebayo up with a pick-and-pop jumper at the nail, and Josh Richardson scored the last two baskets of the first.

On the other side, Paolo Banchero rattled off seven points, Chuma Okeke stung from the corner, and Jalen Suggs ruined the Heat’s offense with help defense and three blocks on Robinson.

In the second quarter, Adebayo continued feeding cutters, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. abused each Magic defender in his path. The rook looked like a mini Kevin McHale, pivoting past them for a layup on the baseline, then breaking down Banchero from the top to the cup and finishing three baskets on the break with no misses in six tries.

Defensively, the Heat struggled to contain Moritz Wagner’s mobility (at 6-foot-11) after the switch, conceding the baseline, a rim roll and a putback. Additionally, Caleb Houstan poured in three triples- Jaquez couldn’t shade and recover on time after the screen and no one tagged him in transition after Nikola Jovic’s turnover. The one in between was nailed with Jović practically breathing on him.

At halftime, the hosts led 56-50, up on the glass by two, with 28 paint points, 12 on the break, eight off turnovers and five via second chances. Robinson had 14 on his scorecard on five of 11 attempts. Jaquez logged 15 on 70% shooting.

In the third quarter, both units upped their defensive pressure. The Heat quickly recovered onto Banchero on the wing to successfully contest his wing jumper, Jaquez forced him into an 11-foot miss on the baseline, and Adebayo, coming in as the helper, spiked his layup away. And the Magic permitted the Heat only six of 20 shots to fall. Adebayo registered three, attacking Goga Bitadze twice in the lane and cleaning up JJJ’s miss for a putback.

Next, coach Erik Spoelstra stashed Jović for Caleb Martin and Richardson. The Heat binged on baskets inside the arc (eight of 13), mainly behind the work of Adebayo schooling Wagner and Robinson getting into the lane with the help of the screen. But the squad committed four turnovers trying to pull off dangerous passes and losing it on the wing, blessing the Magic with extra possessions.

Wagner produced eight points on a rim roll, back door cut and pump-faking Adebayo at the top of the key to get inside for a layup.

Banchero scored 10 points on three of 10 tries late. With 39 seconds left, he dribbled to the right baseline, covered by Jaquez and hit a 15-footer to give the Magic a one-point advantage.

Following the Heat’s timeout, the Magic had one plan: get it to Banchero. The difference at the end was JJJ, Adebayo and Highsmith guarding his jumper and influencing misses on his last three attempts. And, at 18 seconds left, Adebayo caught the inbound and pulled up at the nail in front of Wagner to take the lead.

The Heat won 99-96, with an edge on the boards by three and taking one more field goal. Adebayo supplied 21 points with 11 rebounds and seven dimes. Robinson scored 23, making four of 10 trifectas. And JJJ had 19 points with seven rebounds.

At the on-court interview, Robinson said the games had a “grind it out” finish. “No matter if it’s pretty ugly or somewhere in between…[We] had some real stretches where we showed resolve and found a way to get out a win.”

At the postgame presser, when asked about Adebayo, Spoelstra said, “He had his fingerprints all over this game. Defensively, he was anchoring everything. We had him, sometimes on the five (center), sometimes on the perimeter. If he was on the perimeter, he was there to plug everything up…”

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Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Repairing the Nuggets and Carmelo Anthony’s relationship is overdue

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Carmelo Anthony wears his heart on his sleeve, so he couldn’t help himself from T-ing off on the 7AM in Brooklyn podcast when discussing a subject that stuns a nerve. The matter at hand? He fears being forgotten by future generations because Nikola Jokić, the reigning Finals MVP, dons #15.

“They want you to play that game when you think of #15 in Denver. Now, to this generation, you think of Joker…” Anthony said.

In reality, the cowtown a mile above sea level wasn’t good enough for Anthony. So he demanded a trade to the New York Knicks, never breaking the Nuggets’ dry spell of not reaching the NBA Finals (until the 2023 outfit did). But the Finals? Anthony made a West Finals once in Denver and wants honorary treatment for scoring a bunch of points.

The funny thing is, he should get it. Despite that one time he refused to check back into a game in Detroit, or how he didn’t work hard enough on defense or the glass (averaged 6.3 per game as a Nugget). It can’t be forgotten how he cost his group with a 15-match suspension, going 7-8 without him for the melee in Madison Square Garden (six straight lost in between). On top of that, he said he was a “Knick at heart.”

Yet, Anthony is still one of the organization’s top contributors ever. But his approach is wrong. He has incorrectly interpreted Jokić wearing #15 as disrespect, but the Serbian center, who was picked 41st in round two of Draft night, during a Taco Bell ad and didn’t have the highest expectations from most hoop observers, has worn that number forever.

“I believe they gave him #15 to try to erase what I did…” Anthony said.

This is a terrible misunderstanding that won’t ingratiate himself to younger fans who missed out on his game, the ones he pissed off, and/or to the Kroenke family. He’s wrong in his thinking, but he still deserves respect from Denverites. Anthony hasn’t logged a minute for the Nuggets since Feb. 22, 2011, but he’s still 11th in games played; sixth in logged 3-pointers; fifth in rebounds (Someone alert George Karl); fourth in points, minutes; and second in converted free throws.

Relations can be saved by retiring #15 for Anthony and Jokić when the latter joins him in retirement. The New York Knicks honored Hall of Famers Earl Monroe and Dick McGuire, and they both share #15.

Who could forget Anthony, in baggy shorts, lobbing on the break over Yao Ming? What kind of Nuggets supporter will ignore how he and Chauncey Billups took over in the fourth quarter in Game 3 @ Dallas in 2009? Or how in his time in Denver, the team never missed the Playoffs when it had won 44 combined games in the two seasons before his arrival?

Alex English advanced to one conference final out of 16 series with the Nuggets.

Fat Lever made it to the Western Conference Finals on one occasion against 10 teams.

Byron Beck was with the Denver Rockets before they turned into the Nuggets, playing in 13 series and reaching the ABA Finals in 1976.

Skywalker David Thompson registered seven rounds and led the ABA Nuggets to the Finals in 1976 and then to the NBA’s WCF in 1978.

The “Horse” Dan Issel participated in 13 Playoff encounters and was on the ‘76 squad that reached the ABA Finals

Dikembe Mutombo left the first round once in five seasons as a Nugget -when he was on the eighth-seeded group that took out the Seattle Supersonics in five games in round one.

Doug Moe was an assistant for two years, made a pit stop in San Antonio, and subsequently returned and instructed the squad to 432 wins from 1980-90 and was coach of the year in 1988.

Anthony’s time in Denver peaked in 2009, the only instance he led them out of the first round, and when the unit fell off after five games to the Los Angeles Lakers in the WCF. Enough years have passed and one side should extend an olive branch to the other because it’s long overdue that Anthony is a member of the Nuggets family.

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Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Heat offense runs smoothly with Jović as the triggerman

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Coach Erik Spoelstra is teasing the transition-starved fan base by using Nikola Jović as the playmaker during Jimmy Butler (toe injury) and Caleb Martin’s (ankle sprain) absence. The Serbian kid, who didn’t even have his high school diploma on draft night, is the best on the team at running the break and his tools create devastation on defense.

Early, Jović shot poorly, registering only one layup in the open court with three misses at close range and behind the arc. But he recovered seven rebounds, three of which were offensive, and set up Jaime Jaquez Jr. under the basket in transition, tipped a loose ball to Herro on the left side plus, used the dribble handoff at the top to create space for Herro and Duncan Robinson’s trifectas.

Vintage Kevin Love backed down Jae’Sean Tate, canned a 3-pointer behind a pindown and made two free throws, piling on to the Heat’s blazing first frame.

On the other side, the defense wasn’t as strong. Houston’s Fred VanVleet nailed a 25-footer with Jović, who is 11 inches taller, all over him, another at the left wing when Josh Richardson doubled to Alperen Şengün in the post and one at the elbow as Bam Adebayo dropped. Additionally, the club inflicted four of nine triples to start.

In the second quarter, the hosts could barely convert from deep but managed 12 free throw attempts and logged 67% of its two-pointers. In this period, the defense slipped, allowing six of 11 triples to fall.

At halftime, the game was tied at 59. The Heat were ahead by four on the glass, with 24 points coming in the paint, four off second chances and five off turnovers.

In the third quarter, Herro connected on three triples- one assisted by a Jović DHO on the left wing, a straight-away jumper at the top of the key, and another set up by Jović on the break. Adebayo was perfect on four paint shots. And Jović had his finest spurt of the season, hustling for loose balls to set up the break and pulling up for one trifecta.

On defense, despite permitting two deep looks that missed, the Heat contested two of seven triples cleanly.

The Heat entered the fourth quarter ahead by nine, and Adebayo’s production carried the group until the finish line. First, he contested Jabari Smith’s 3-pointer and was first in the open court, receiving the outlet pass from Robinson for a two-handed jam. He also hit a jumper at the nail, rolled to the rim for a layup between three defenders and swished four freebies.

Herro, Jaquez and Robinson each converted a tray in the fourth, too.

Defensively in the fourth, Smith was held to zero baskets in four tries covered by Adebayo, Richardson and Jaquez, forcing him into deep jumpers.

The Heat won 120-113, starting its four-game homestand. The group finished with 15 fastbreak points, 11 scored via second chance, and 13 off turnovers. In the half court, it scored 121.8 points per 100 possessions, good enough for the 95 percentile of all games this season, per Cleaning the Glass.

Adebayo was in charge with 22 points on 75% shooting with 12 rebounds. Jović finished with six points, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks.

At the on-court interview, Adebayo said he was getting greedy about possibly making his third All-Star team. (He previously repped the East in 2020 and 2023.) “The biggest thing about it is improving and getting better. As you grow in this league and you got two All-Star [appearances], you want three, you want four, you want five. So you just keep that mentality.”

At the postgame presser, Spoelstra said Jović was “really good” in his minutes. “I don’t know what his stat line was, but he was able to generate a lot of easy opportunities for us in the open court…”

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Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Suns outshine the touring Heat

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Kevin Love carried the Heat early, supplying 15 points, firing behind the arc, facing up in the post and cutting to the basket on a perfect five attempts. Kyle Lowry splashed a pair of triples. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored off three back door cuts. But the Suns, without Kevin Durant, devoured the Heat’s Jimmy Butler-less defenses and held the visitors to its season low of 97 points. (Butler was absent with right toe irritation, and Caleb Martin was too with a right ankle sprain.)

Phoenix’s Grayson Allen burned the Heat for unnecessarily abandoning the corner twice, plus canned a transition trifecta and his last was against drop coverage. Devin Booker added 10 points on four of six shots from all three areas of the halfcourt.

In the second quarter, JJJ, Nikola Jovic, Duncan Robinson, Lowry, and Tyler Herro logged a donut. However, Bam Adebayo was the source of the offense, powering past multiple defenders on the baseline and in the lane, hitting a reverse layup over Drew Eubanks, swishing a couple of jumpers at the nail and slamming a lob on the roll, fed by Herro. Counting his five freebies, he totaled 17 of the Heat’s 26 points in the frame, and only Josh Richardson recorded a field goal, aside from Adebayo’s six.

Defensively, no formulas stopped Allen from connecting on three more trays and blowing past Love for a finger roll layup. In this period, the Heat flashed the zone and man coverage, yielding four of five baskets in the restricted area. Additionally, Bradley Beal and Booker combined for 14 points on 54% shooting, getting to the paint whenever they wanted.

At halftime, the Heat were down 55-62, with 18 paint points plus four off turnovers and zero scored on the break. The guests were behind on the glass by two but took 12 extra free throws and converted 46.2% of its field goals.

In the third quarter, the offense made three buckets in a row, then subsided, failing on nine straight, courtesy of the Suns’ defense. Herro and Lowry were useless, registering no points. All eight attempts from the left side missed as the Heat produced on just 29.2% of its looks.

Within four minutes, the crew was down 17 to the Suns. Booker was contained, but Chimezie Metu, Bol Bol, Eubanks and Beal didn’t miss on nine tries.

The final quarter was a disaster shooting from the perimeter, making only two of 10 triples. Yet, Adebayo plowed into the paint for a dunk, lob off the roll and floater in transition. Getting within 13 points with six minutes left was as close as the Heatles got in the period to threatening the lead.

The Heat lost 97-113 in a match that featured 14 first-half lead changes. The offense produced 94.4 points per 100 possessions, good enough for the 40th percentile of all games this season, per Cleaning the Glass.

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra said the hosts were getting lots of easy baskets in the first half which established their momentum in the second. “At the start of the third, when we weren’t knocking down shots, now you’re dealing with a team that had great flow, great confidence, and they were just able to play with ease pretty much offensively in that second half.”

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Mateo’s Hoop Diary: HBO’s unanswered questions about Winning Time’s cancellation and the upset Lakers

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HBO canceled its show Winning Time in September because of a 40% drop in viewership and has refused to answer who the intended audience was. Remember that the Lakers team shown in the program is between 45 and 40 years old (the show’s story ends in 1984). The network also didn’t answer what made them think the public would be interested in the stories of a group that age when the NBA has recently added an In-Season Tournament because it wants to “drive additional interest in the early portion of the regular-season schedule.”

That’s code for the NBA is not satisfied with its number of spectators.

Additionally, HBO PR chiefs Raina Falcon and Diego Aldana did not answer what impact the criticisms of former Lakers had on the show. Magic Johnson, Norm Nixon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and more spoke negatively about Winning Time any chance they could when the show went lite on their reputations in comparison to Jeff Pearlman’s book, Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, it is based on. Interestingly, no one is discrediting Pearlman’s writing, and he spoke with close to 300 people for the assignment.

In the summer of 2023, during the SAG-AFTRA strike, cast members of Winning Time could not promote the program. Still, Pearlman, who even had a cameo as a journalist in one episode in season two, did futilely on X(formerly Twitter) as much as possible.

Johnson told reporters he “never watched” HBO’s “fictional” account and that no one could tell the story. Yet, the scenes from the show of him working out with Pat Riley to recover from his knee injury come from his 1983 memoir (published at age 23) Magic by himself and Richard Levin.

Abdul-Jabbar said it was boring because of bland, crude characterizations and compared it to gossip-mongering on the Real Housewives in his Substack writing page.

Nixon said it wasn’t true and that he never had issues with Johnson, as a guest on the Skyhook podcast with Michael Cooper and Abdul-Jabbar. His son, DeVaughn, portrayed him on the show.

In later interviews, he criticized Johnson for his tight bond with Buss, saying he couldn’t hang out so frequently with the owner and then with the team, but never mentioned that he partied with both as well. (At the peculiar press conference introducing Pat Riley as Lakers coach, Buss revealed that he was going to a birthday party with Johnson and Nixon.)

Gary Vitti chose not to return after two days of consulting in protest of Jerry West’s portrayal.

Riley just walked by and said “no” when asked by reporters at Miami Heat training camp if he liked Adrien Brody’s interpretation of him.

Jeanie Buss, who tried to get the show canceled before it aired, said she thought no one had a right to tell the Lakers’ story in her interview with Graham Bensinger. “We tried for a couple of years [to shut down the show. We] really leaned on the corporate lawyers, and I thought they would be able to stop it. The explanation given to me is that it’s protected under first amendment rights…”

Despite early objections to production and material in the program, Jeanie Buss admires the performance of John C. Reilly as her father, calling it “absolutely breathtaking as [Jerry Buss].

Here’s the deal: The show took many liberties, bothering and hurting some of those who lived it, especially West, who even pursued legal action, demanding a retraction and apology from HBO. The Network denied both.

In reality, West didn’t throw his trophy out of a window. Johnson didn’t storm off the court after his altercation with coach Paul Westhead. Jack Kent Cooke was not that unfriendly towards Jerry Buss. Bill Sharman couldn’t raise his voice that high, then. Claire Rothman did not unbutton her shirt to flatter Buss’ eye. And Buss was more sensitive than his portrayal, despite showing mainly his cavalier side, plus many other things.

But it was never a documentary and there is a disclaimer that it is a dramatization.

Still, Johnson is the luckiest that Winning Time was canceled and didn’t follow Pearlman’s book 100% to the text. Here’s an excerpt of Frank Brickowski describing his mansion parties in Chapter 13- Virginal: “He would have the finest girls in LA there. The absolute finest. And at midnight you had to get busy with somebody or get the fuck out. So, if you were a guy, at midnight you’d get as close as you could to the hottest possible woman. Magic went around in this voyeuristic way. He’d check on you. He’d go throughout the house, the pool. He’d order people to start doing things. All you had to do is be near a chick. There were guys who would yell, ‘Magic, she’s not getting busy! She’s not!’ He’d run over there and she’d get busy…”

Furthermore, in one scene of the show in Episode One, The Swan, Abdul-Jabbar is shown telling his child co-star of the film Airplane to “Fuck off.” He denied this in his blog or ever mouthing off to any minor. However, Linda Rambis, executive director of special projects with the Lakers, is on the record in Chapter 4- Center of Complications in Pearlman’s book saying, “Some little kid would ask for an autograph and he’d say, ‘Go fuck yourself.’ But Kareem was, otherwise, an incredible professional.”

But Rothman, the former general manager of the Forum, now retired at 95 years old, said to Five Reasons Sports Network that Winning Time was unfair to its subjects but that it was closer to realism in the second season.

Regarding Buss, Rothman said the show did not accurately depict the dimension of the man. “He was an avid reader who read two or three books a week. He loved theater. He loved symphony. He loved ballet.”

He was also receptive to the ideas of his employees. For example, Rothman once asked for a raise. She wrote him a memo explaining how underpaid she was compared to people from all over the country who did similar work, but he never read the second page. Two weeks later, Buss summoned her to his Pickfair mansion for a business lunch. There, he obliged her wishes and gave her a $100,000 raise on the condition that she couldn’t ask for another next year.

Buss also got involved as a donor to The Music Center in LA. Rothman was on the board at the time. She and others who were closely around him were dispirited by the direction of his character because they agreed Buss wasn’t one to disrespect another publicly.

Concerning the interpretation of Abdul-Jabbar, Rothman said it was stupid.

Rothman was appalled by West’s “unkind” depiction, too. She had a friendly relationship with him when she worked at the Forum, but he never interfered with her business. His priorities were basketball matters, and the one time they discussed anything in her field was in a brief comment about Barbera Streisand not coming to perform at the Forum, according to Rothman.

She said there weren’t enough moments that showed his softer side. Towards the end of Pearlman’s book, he does showcase West’s generosity, taking his colleagues out to dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steak House while providing them with laughs.

And she was sickened by the scene of her character undoing her hair and then the top buttons of her shirt.

Pearlman said in an interview on The Rich Eisen Show that Winning Time wasn’t a documentary, but he understands the frustration of those portrayed, and that he has no issues with the characterization, particularly West, because it is in line with his autobiography, West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life. “It’s sort of true to the tortured and tormented soul that he was.”

He would add in his interview with Eisen that West “was combustible, highly strung, couldn’t watch his team…”

Jeanie Buss wasn’t interested in helping HBO after she saw the script for episode one. She sent a copy of it to Rothman, who, in solidarity, wouldn’t participate either.

In 2022, the same year as Winning Time’s first season, the Lakers publicized their show Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers. It is a 10-part docuseries directed and produced by Antonie Fuqua. Jeanie Buss was also an executive producer.

The first four episodes cover the Showtime Lakers era, and some of the interviews shown validate Pearlman’s book.

In the first episode of Legacy, West, a program volunteer, said, “Coaching for me was a difficult chore. I am an emotional person, and sometimes, I don’t hide that very well.”

He also mentions feeling sad for the players who competed for him from 1976-79.

The following episode explains the awkward press conference when Buss announced that West and Pat Riley would be in charge of the offense and defense post firing of coach Westhead. Jeanie Buss described it as tone-setting for their working relationship because her father wanted to be known as a decision-maker. The team’s former public relations director, Bruce Jolesch, is quoted in Pearlman’s book, saying, “We put on a clinic on how not to conduct a press conference.”

In the same episode of Legacy, West says that he didn’t think Nixon was a good compliment to Johnson in the back court, but the two of them were arguably the top guard pairing in the NBA. Johnson wrote in his memoir that he told Buss that Nixon was the top guard choice he’d like to play with because “his quickness adds a dimension to my game that nobody else can.”

According to Pearlman, West booted Nixon from the team the because he saw him as an issue. He hired a private investigator to try to identify a drug problem to justify his cause.

With Winning Time’s cancellation, the opportunity was wasted by HBO (unless the rights to the program are bought and another studio continues) for the show to continue the dramatized story of Showtime or even one of the following duos- the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant era from Pearlman’s Laker follow up, Three Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty.

West, Jeanie Buss, Nixon and Pearlman didn’t want to speak for this story.