Jimmy Butler is working himself into a West Coast lather that routinely is offered up for public consumption on social media.
Back at AmericanAirlines Arena, the oxymoron of informal Miami Heat workouts are leaving their own trail of sweat.
And if anybody isn’t fully getting the message, Udonis Haslem is only a phone call away.
Yes, the back-to-work preparation is real, from coast to coast.
“I definitely tell guys that we have this little period where we can go in and do these voluntary workouts, take advantage,” Haslem said during an appearance on ESPN’s Now or Never. “Hit the ground running. If the season comes back, we want to hit the ground running.”
With an expectation of a return to a training-camp setting in June and a resumption of play in July, this could be a significant stage of the NBA shutdown for a roster with a significant amount of veterans, including Butler, who has been drilling at his San Diego home.
“The younger guys, they can adjust a lot faster than the guys my age,” Haslem said. “But, for me, I guess that’s why I just never stop working. At his stage of my career and at this stage of my life, it’s a choice to make and a lifestyle. It can’t just be a decision that I make. It’s a lifestyle. So I tell all my young guys that I’ll never ask you anything I won’t do myself.”
For someone who plays little, with only 21 minutes of action over three appearances this season, these are the times when the actions of the 39-year-old team captain can mean the most.
“I’ve been keeping all our guys encouraged, staying in everybody’s ear,” he said, “making sure guys are staying focused, making sure guys stay optimistic as far as the season coming back.”
What Haslem and the Heat are coming back to remains in question, with everything floated from completing the 82-game schedule, to stopping at 70 regular-season games, to going straight to the playoffs, or perhaps some type of tournament setting that involves a bit of each approach.
“Most likely it’s going to have to be a tournament situation,” Haslem said. “It’s not, I don’t think, realistic to really see if we can pick up where we left off. But we’re going to have to take some kind of situation of how the teams were matched up in the playoffs and move forward from that point on.
“We can’t finish out everything. But I definitely think there needs to a be a pre-period before we jump right into the playoffs, to get guys acclimated and back into the season, helping to prevent injuries moving forward.”
What Haslem won’t abide is putting on asterisk on whatever plays out.
“I don’t believe so,” he said. “And I’m saying because one year that we won the championship was one of the seasons that was a lockout season (2011-12). We won the one that year. And you can use it was a shorter season, such and such and such, but a championship is a championship. And anybody knows how hard it is.
“That’s one of the hardest things that you’ll ever do as a professional athlete. So if you win it, kudos to you, you deserved it.”
Even as he helps teammates move forward, Haslem continues to push forward with his community work during the new coronavirus pandemic.
That has him launching his Powered Forward Through Hunger digital sweepstakes, with proceeds to address food insecurity for Miami residents experiencing job loss and economic need.
Among prizes put up by Haslem are autographed memorabilia, personal food deliveries, the chance to join him on Instagram Live, with the grand-prize winner having the opportunity to choose between a round of golf with Haslem, a Heat VIP experience, a workout with Haslem, or a pizza-making session with Haslem at his 800 Degrees restaurant.
Udonis Haslem adds age and experience to the Heat’s mix. (TNS)
