{"id":413060,"date":"2026-09-28T19:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T19:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/413060\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T19:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T19:30:13","slug":"erik-spoelstra-discusses-new-season-on-miami-heat-media-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/413060\/","title":{"rendered":"Erik Spoelstra discusses new season on Miami Heat media day"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI \u2014 Renewal was the theme of the day Monday as the Miami Heat gathered for their media day at Kaseya Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it feels like a natural turning of the page for a lot of us,\u201d coach Erik Spoelstra said prior to offseason\u00a0additions Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, Klay Thompson, Tim Hardaway, Nick Richards and others doing their media rounds. \u201cWe\u2019ll see how it all plays out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last season, it played out as the Heat\u2019s first time out of the playoffs in seven seasons, thus the need for change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the possibilities for us are exciting,\u201d Spoelstra said. \u201cWe need everybody\u2019s best version this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The entire roster arrived in shape enough to pass the team\u2019s grueling conditioning test of fullcourt sprints.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody did their jobs in the months of August and September,\u201d Spoelstra said. \u201cIt\u2019s not like we\u2019re really going to have to teach them our level of how we want to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

That should leave more time for indoctrination during training camp, which opens Tuesday<\/a> in Boca Raton at Florida Atlantic University. The Heat then open their preseason schedule Saturday in Quebec City against the Toronto Raptors.<\/p>\n

It will be a camp and exhibition schedule featuring more veterans than typical Heat preseasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this team has a different kind of feel going into camp,\u201d Spoelstra said. \u201cI want the guys to bring their egos, being that competitive spirit. We have a lot of winners and former champions on this roster, a lot of Type A personalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we also don\u2019t want to forget about our young guys. They are the lifeblood of our depth. There will be guys at different parts of the season where you wonder, \u2018How did they get that opportunity?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

As for those doubting his team\u2019s ability to compete in an upgraded Eastern Conference, Spoelstra basically said to bring it on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right in my wheelhouse, right? I love the bunker mentality, which we will get to,\u201d Spoelstra said. \u201cThe guys are not unaware of it. I\u2019m OK at the end of September if guys are using that as some internal motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The motivation is more than there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe energy is different now,\u201d said forward Andrew Wiggins, the final player to address the media Monday. \u201cYou can feel it here. You can feel it in the whole city, in the building. The energy is different. We have a squad this year that can do crazy things. And the ultimate goal is obviously a championship and we have the squad to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Short stuff<\/p>\n

Forward Bobby Portis said he is down 19 pounds from his Heat arrival in July, aware of the conditioning required for the Heat system . . .<\/p>\n

Bam Adebayo once again will serve as captain. \u201cI still hate it because you worry about the other 14 instead of you,\u201d he quipped. \u201cBut I\u2019m willing to make that sacrifice every day.\u201d . . .<\/p>\n

Center Nick Richards said the one-year, minimum-scale contract he took from the Heat was the best offer available to him. His deal becomes guaranteed on opening night if still on the roster . . .<\/p>\n

With the composition of the Heat roster, Pelle Larsson said he is expecting to see time at point guard, expressing a willingness for the opportunity . . .<\/p>\n

Wiggins said he had no issue with the extension that drops his salary in the second and third years. \u201cI wanted to do what was best for everybody, because obviously I just wanted to be here,\u201d he said . . .<\/p>\n

Nikola Jovic expressed confidence he is past his back issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 Renewal was the theme of the day Monday as the Miami Heat gathered for their media…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[114,123,125,2490,124,2295,110],"class_list":["post-413060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-latest-headlines","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-heat","tag-miami-news","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}