2024-25 Miami Heat Exit Interview Quote Tracker

Good afternoon, everyone! Today, the Miami Heat will be streaming their exit interviews on YouTube, beginning at 12:00 p.m. EST (it didn’t start until roughly 12:50 … sigh). Below, we will be sharing some of the quotes said from Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and other players who spoke on Wednesday.

As a reminder, Pat Riley’s end-of-season press conference will be held on a different day, which has yet to be disclosed.

Without further ado, let’s jump into it, starting with Spoelstra:

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Erik Spoelstra:

“I was encouraged with the minutes that they had and the progress that they made. And they found a way to complement each other and heighten each other's strengths.”

— Erik Spoelstra on Kel’el Ware and Bam Adebayo together
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

Spo on Ware: "Last 6-8 weeks were important for him, the heightened pressure/expectations of us trying to get into the playoffs/play-in/learning lessons from these 4 games…. not a lot of guys from this draft class played in the Playoffs. Him/Pelle got that experience…" pic.twitter.com/TjyCsomVTr
— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) April 30, 2025

“We deserve the criticism. We deserve the embarrassment those last two games. … It's not you know what our organization's about.”

— Erik Spoelstra
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“When I look back on it, I'll look back on it the same way now as years from now: It was a good five year run, and when things end, oftentimes they end not as loudly as this.

“But, it ends where there's something, and you go look at all the other teams out there with players,…
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“I love seeing [Bam Adebayo]’s leadership feet be put to put to the fire, you know? And that's what it was.”

— Erik Spoelstra
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“Who's got the model? Boston does right now because they won last year. Everybody else, I'm looking at the teams that are maybe still playing, three years ago, they're out of the playoffs and they haven't won yet. So how are they the model right now?

“We're stubborn as hell. To…
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

Spo on Jimmy: "There's second-guessing on what we could have done better to right the ship in turbulent waters. It's not as if that would have moved the needle for us to be first in the conference. That's unrealistic… it was a good 5-year run." pic.twitter.com/yRyyz6V6Vj
— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) April 30, 2025

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Davion Mitchell:

“I love my teammates, love the coaching staff, love the adversity that we went through and we accomplished something no one's ever done before being a 10-seed to get into the playoffs. … I'm proud of my teammates and proud of the whole e organization.”

— Davion Mitchell
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“I haven’t really thought about or talked about it with my representation yet.”

— Davion Mitchell on his upcoming free agency
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“Basketball, it comes with the rhythm. I think playing for Miami, I had a lot of rhythm. … When it comes with a rhythm, I shoot better.”

— Davion Mitchell on his hot shooting stretch with the Heat
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“We have to figure out how to generate more threes and cleaner threes.”

— Davion Mitchell
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

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Kel’el Ware:

Kel’el Ware points to wanting to get stronger as the thing he wants to improve most heading into his second season
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

Ware says the strength part of the game was the toughest part to adjust to as a rookie https://t.co/GTbqoNMKX8
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

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Haywood Highsmith:

“This league is humbling … We felt like we could make it competitve and try to make it a series. But they came up on top. … Last two games, they got the big leads and everything kind of crumbled. … It shows they’re on a different level than us.”

— Haywood Highsmith on Cavs…
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“He didn’t want to be here. It is what it is. Glad he got what he wanted and we wish him the best.”

— Haywood Highsmith on the Jimmy Butler situation
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

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Alec Burks:

“I was just trying to be a steady presence and be a good vet. … And show the young guys like this role and be professional about it.”

— Alec Burks
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“I had a great year. I had a great time—everybody from the top to the bottom. … I learned a lot. Even though I'm in my 14th year, I still learned something.”

— Alec Burks
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

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Kyle Anderson:

“Very detailed, which I can appreciate as an 11-year pro and being 31-years-old.”

— Kyle Anderson on what he picked up playing under Erik Spoelstra
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“(The Cleveland Cavaliers) looked like a better team without [Darius Garland] on the floor.”

Kyle Anderson said him being off the floor made it more difficult for the Heat offense over the last two games.
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“I’ve never been traded before. … Mentally, it was a challenge.”

— Kyle Anderson revealed that he hasn’t seen his son in five weeks and that being away from his family was tough.
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

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Jaime Jaquez Jr.:

“You can learn a lot about yourself. I think it was a extremely humbling experience. Sometimes you get things don't go your way, and sometimes only after do realize why that had happened to you. … Sometimes you need that in your life, to just you know be humbled and get set back…
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“I think they would just crowd the paint a lot more, maybe sometimes send two (defenders) as well and sag off on pick and rolls and things like that.”

— Jaime Jaquez Jr. on defenses taking away his drives
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“I think mental what you learn, the mental part of the game is almost more important than the physical is something that I've learned this year. You have to be mentally sharp at all times and never have any lapses because the second that that happens, teams are taking advantage.”…
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

Jaime Jaquez Jr. says he’s 100 percent and “feels great” right now.
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

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Bam Adebayo:

“Trying to get everyone on the same page through the storm. … You still have to figure out how to win.

“This organization could’ve let go of the rope a long time ago, going through what we went through this season. And that's one thing I love about this organization: That we're…
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

Bam Adebayo says he’s wants to keep defenses honest with his 3-point shot
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“To see guys go through what we went through, and not let go of the rope. As a captain, you have the utmost respect for your teammates because like I said, anybody that could have been like, ‘Man, I'm checking out.’”

— Bam Adebayo
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“Obviously, he's gonna keep developing, he's gonna keep growing, he's gonna keep being he's gonna keep wanting to be his best version of itself.

“I think he can be a great player in this league. He can be one of the ones where we'll constantly be talking about every year of he…
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

Bam Adebayo on what he wants changed:

“At the end of the day, I wanna win. That’s more of a Pat Riley question. And I hope you can ask that question to him and he doesn’t blow you off and ignore you. He knows my mentality”
— 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙏 𝙉𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 (@HeatvsHaters) April 30, 2025

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Nikola Jovic:

Nikola Jovic said he will be playing for Serbia in Eurobasket, says there were no thoughts about not playing for them this summer.

“To represent your country, it’s everything.”
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“It was weird because I have never experienced anything like that before. … I focused on whatever I needed to focus on. … He got what he wanted, and we’re happy for him.

“It was a weird stretch. I feel like some of us, especially guys like Tyler and Bam, they for sure got…
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

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Pelle Larsson:

“How much higher of a level the play is compared to regular season. … It was really fun to have that experience.”

— Pelle Larsson on what he took away from the play-in/playoffs
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

Pelle Larsson also revealed that he is expected to play in Eurobasket this summer
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

Pelle Larsson says he wants to improve his shooting this summer, as well as being comfortable with the ball in his hands, making decisions and defending.
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

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Tyler Herro:

“I learned closing games isn’t as easy as some people make it look. And that'smy improvement this this summer is how I can figure out ways to help this team win games at the end of games, whether that's making a play for myself, or making a play for for a teammate. But…
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“I think, ultimately, it was an overall wondering about when it is going to end. … At the end of the day, (basketball) is what we wanted to worry about.”

— Tyler Herro on navigating the Jimmy Butler situation
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“I don't care if we're 0-82, I would never come out and say, ‘I need someone else to win.’ That's just my personality. That's who I am as a competitor. I think I can do it, obviously.”

— Tyler Herro
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

Tyler Herro says he expected this year was going to be his lowest usage season.

“It changed quick, and I was able to reap the benefits from it. … I can’t let the last two games to define my season. But also understanding that that's not what I want out of this league is. The…
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

“Not the biggest deal (to get an extension done in October), but I would love to be here. The front office, the organization, I think, the city, everyone knows how much I love Miami. I've been here since I was 18-19, I got two kids here. So this is, this is really home for me.…
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) April 30, 2025

Which players did not speak to the media on Wednesday?

Andrew Wiggins
Duncan Robinson
Terry Rozier
Kevin Love
Keshad Johnson
None of the players on two-way contracts (has that ever happened?)

Appreciate you all following along! Of course, we weren’t able to post every word that players said (I’m trying my best to transcribe! Apologies!), but we appreciate the support.

As expected, most of the players were asked about the Jimmy Butler situation and how they all navigated it. Now that there’s a resolution, hopefully, they will never have to be asked about it again because I am sure all of us are tired of hearing about it. But I digress. That’s my old man tangent of the day.

Anyway, what was your favorite quote or tidbit that one of the Heat players–or Spoelstra–may have said? Fee, free to let us know in the comments below!

For the full interviews, watch here:

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This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates.

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Alaska Emily

5 hours ago

Why is this article in the form of Twitter posts? It makes the article unreadable, especially on mobile. Please in the future, when you have quotes to share just post the quote as text in your article. It’s easier on readers, and as an added bonus it doesn’t support the racist anti-semite who’s actively working to destroy America, and who owns the Twitter platform.

SunManFromDogBone

Reply to Alaska Emily

1 hour ago

Amen sister! Have a nice summer up north. 😉