Myron Gardner hasn’t seen the hardwood often for the Miami Heat this season.
The undrafted rookie — who spent the two previous seasons in the Orlando Magic organization — had played a total of 68 minutes heading into this weekend. The 6-foot-5 guard had played more than five minutes thrice, including twice since the start of the New Year.
Within the Heat walls, one saying that will ring through every player’s ears is, “Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.” As a result of injuries to Davion Mitchell, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyler Herro, Gardner’s name was called … at 3 a.m., catching two flights to arrive in Miami ahead of the team’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
And he blossomed.
Gardner, 24, tallied a career-high 11 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range in 15 minutes off the Heat bench in their two-point win. He trailed only Simone Fontecchio (13 points) in Heat points off the bench.
Beyond statistics, there’s one word to describe how Gardner plays, whether it was in Summer League, with the Sioux Falls Skyforce (or Osceola Magic) or Miami.
Energy.
“Myron is our energy. I don’t know how to really describe Myron,” Heat captain Bam Adebayo said with a smile. “You just have to hang around him. He’s the person that has this ‘kid energy.’ You know when kids that run around all day and you’re always looking at them like, ‘I wish I had that much energy.’ He is that.”
“I can’t describe Myron. But you need teammates like him. Throw him in the game and he’s going to play as hard as possible. … When Myron checks in the game, you instantly feel a difference. He’s going to compete. He’s going to play hard. He’s going to defend. He’s going to foul. But, like I said, you need somebody like that on your roster because he can spark the energy of the arena, the players on the court, the coaching staff.
“He has that type of energy. He can spark us.”
That’s exactly what Gardner did, too.
The Heat trailed by 12 points — 52-40 — when Gardner checked in with 6:21 left in the first half. Gardner instantaneously knocked down a pair of triples in his first 40 seconds, plus one more 40 seconds after that, trimming the lead to 52-49.
He later swatted a Luguentz Dort floater. Not long after checking in, in the third quarter, Gardner scored his fourth-and-final bucket: A putback dunk.
Once again, he was instant energy.
Against the Oklahoma City Thunder without three of your top contributors, it was all hands on deck for the Heat. Everyone needed to contribute, and in some capacity, everyone did, including Gardner, the team’s unsung hero as the 10th man.
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with morant healthy i cant see grizz trading him unless they get a great offer hes quite a player still.when healthy key word
I don’t think they will see any ‘great’ offers for him.
Maybe they will if he keeps having these kinds of games. Although I don’t know how many teams have both the budget and willingness to take the gamble.
Great when it suits him and sandbagging/goldbricking/quiet quitting when it doesn’t. Ja is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get…especially if he gets pissed off at the coach.
The gardner helped our game blossom into a win.
He seems to handle pressure well. His G League stats are impressive. He may be worth a rookie contract.
16.2 ppg, 44,7 3-pt, 86.7 ft, 9.9 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.6 spg.
Fearless kid. He might won as a game.
He absolutely changed the direction of the game, as noted, from 52-40 to 52-49.
only one guy in the arean didnt notice
It was a crucial moment of the game. When OKC is going to 15-20 point difference, the game is lost.