As the Miami Heat’s forgetful 2025-26 campaign is officially over, there was still a sour taste left in the end.
Of course, Miami fell short to the Charlotte Hornets in the 9-10 play-in matchup in an overtime thriller. However, it’s only fair to assume if there would still be Heat basketball being played had their captain and star player Bam Adebayo not gotten injured. In what was a heavily controversial play in that game, Adebayo was taken down by LaMelo Ball early in the first half— courtesy of a clear cheap shot where Ball grabbed Adebayo’s ankle and pulled out from under him. It led to a hard fall on Adebayo’s tailbone, and one in which he left the game and never returned.
Immediately following the season-ending loss, coach Erik Spoelstra did not hold back on ripping Ball apart in the postgame press conference:
“I don’t think it’s cute. I don’t think it’s funny. I think it’s a stupid play. It’s a dangerous play. He (LaMelo) should be penalized for that. I don’t think that belongs in the game, tripping guys. He should have been thrown out of the game for that.”
— Erik Spoelstra
The aftermath included a league review of Ball’s shenanigans on Adebayo, leading to a $60K fine— but no suspension. Ball would ultimately receive his karma when Charlotte was destroyed by the Orlando Magic in their next play-in game, ending the Hornets’ season.
However, Ball iterated after the Heat-Hornets outing that he planned to “check in” and apologize to Adebayo. Days later, fans have discovered that was not what transpired.
Bam Adebayo confirmed that LaMelo Ball did not reach out at all, yet.
In Miami’s player exit interviews, it was no shock that the Ball-Adebayo incident was addressed. And the Heat star went on to reveal his skepticism of Ball’s intentions during that play and even confirmed he has not heard anything from Ball.
“It doesn’t make sense that three or four plays can go by and you can review a 3-point shot,” Adebayo stated. “You can’t review a hostile act?… LaMelo makes what, $30 million a year? The $60K fine he’s not going to see… nobody is going to know the truth but LaMelo if it was dirty or not.”
At the end of the day, neither a Ball suspension nor even a formal apology to Adebayo wasn’t going to change the fact that Miami’s season is over. It’s a shame that fans couldn’t see it through with this Heat team, especially after witnessing the eight seed Magic upsetting the Detroit Pistons early in these playoffs. The Heat would have posed as a legitimate matchup threat to the likes of Detroit— as they finished the regular season going 3-1 against them in their matchups.
Not to mention, Miami would have been on the opposite side of the postseason bracket from the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks had they gotten out of a potential Detroit first round series. A path for another underdog run was certainly there, but the basketball gods said otherwise.
Now another long offseason filled with questions will take place, as Pat Riley and company will hope to make the best of Adebayo’s prime years and maximize a re-tooling window.
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fn cheating keldon johnson gets 6moty thats because the spurs had a better year than us.jjj needs 35 mins hes scoring 20 and shooting 50%
Maybe some voters don’t like Brownsides? 6 MOY scored 3 points in first game and 7 in second game. Choke city!
i didnt see much of this cheatin spur play but our kj same type player .next year our kj better get more minutes.uncan guarding banchero detroit basketball
Magic are targeting Robinson’s (lack of) defense.
every team should.cant play a lick either can herro.at least hes very handsy dunc he touches everybody on the ct.he plays a physical game unc.
One of the latest 2026 Mock Drafts. Comprehensive profiles for top 60 prospects. Interesting suggestions for Miami.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25262746-2026-nba-mock-draft
I’m not on high on Ament as others might be. A 6’10” slender player who may struggle against physical defense, but has dribble, pass, shoot skills, sounds a little too close to a player already on the roster.
I would take 3 players listed after Ament over him – Mara, Carr, and Steinbach.
There are always players who are expected to go higher in the draft than they ultimately do go. Like last year with Jakucionis.
I have a feeling a high ceiling player is going to drop in Miami’s lap. There are also frequently sleepers with potential (like Larsson) in the second round. This year there should be more than most.
Rather than chasing windmills again this year, Miami should be trying to clear the books while accumulating young players and draft picks.
With a few strategic trades, at least 2 lottery picks (2026 & 2027), plus any young players and 1st and 2nd rounders they can pick up in trades, Miami should have sufficient assets to go whale hunting by next summer.
There may be several quality players available in trades and others coming up for extensions or free agency by then for the Heat to consider.
can u forward this to pat riley please rc 30 yours truly have seen this multiple times lebron
It should probably go to Arison instead so he can compare it to Riley’s plan, if he has one.
The Miami Heat could have up to $15.1M to spend with the non-taxpayer mid-level exception this offseason—and there are some interesting wing options on the radar, per Barry Jackson.
Names to watch:
Where is the hell tf no button? No more band-aids on gunshot wounds, please!!!
I am surprised that two players on that list are available, as they are still young and really help their teams, Dosunmo and White. I’d take both those guys. And Grimes maybe too.
This is a list of players of the same quality we already have. a ton.
Exactly. They don’t move the needle. Miami shouldn’t go down that rabbit hole again this year. Superficial changes/window dressing will have no significant impact on Miami’s competitiveness/contention status.
anybody whod say theyd take all star herro over marcus smart just doesnt understand winning games more important than just empty stats
I’ve been saying for awhile that Smart is far more than a top defensive player. He scored a lot of points last night. The Lakers are doing surprisingly well without Luka and Austin. Houston is no slouch. This series isn’t over though.
.smart does the things that win games.not a tyler scorer just a dawg out there.lebron better team player than kd mr one on one.lebron the ex heater besides best player ever smartest player ever and a great interviewer.very interesting to listen to unlike mr boring spoism cliches.
A few of us told you we’d be sitting at this time at the start of this year, that we didn’t have near enough. And now that it’s happening it’s sure not any fun to watch the playoffs and have no dog in the hunt.
And a few of us had the temerity, the utter chutzpah, to point the finger at the unassailable one, the great bwana who could do no wrong. But, now most of the Pat apologists are gone.
We gotta get rid of this guy. If this was the last century they would run him out of town on a rail, but first they’d tar and feather him. .
30 hes mickeys bf were fkd
Which makes me dislike the situation even more. Riley the nepo baby.
its been good to us pretty much for 3 decades.but when it goes south mickey will never fire pat.pat will never fire nepo son eric..after that disaster in cleve playoffs that was when at least spobot should have been axed.how many maxey booker misses does it take pat to be fired.it takes one butler to nix that idea.but w/o jimmy the org in trouble and it shows the limitations of bam.heck look who lebrons out there with right now u can say the heat roster is better w/o luka and reaves.
rc jumps at me defending pat when i say ny gm ind gm atl gm are way better than pat NOW rcs a tull fan i guess living in the past.every heat fan loved pat until few years ago true.but this is a results driven business.results been mediocre pats been bad last few years.the quitter was the last good move he has made plus drafting bam.
And, I discussed the paradyne shift factor, the axiomatic flaw in team building that the Heat currently suffer from. the third rail of team construction. My theory is that at some point you can have too much. The trade of Anfernee Simons for Nikola Vukevic, on a team with Schierman, Hauser, Garza, Pritchard, and Gonzalez, where only Gonzalez is not part of the regular rotation, is a fine example of that concept in play. And it’s not that Pritchard, Hauser, and Vuc aren’t good players, they very much are.
And, I know it’s a horrible thing to say, but it’s very real and most teams abide by the tenets of this unwritten rule. At some point when you go beyond four, shall we say, non two way players, those players have too much responsibility and have trouble shouldering their share of the collective load.
Counterbalancing this effect is the superstars cover a multitude of sins factor. And having two can mean you almost can have a very pedestrian supporting cast and still succeed. If the Celtics can’t handle Philly with two superstars, think how limited the Heat’s ceiling is with no superstars and having the same roster flaw.
There I said it. I still think it’s true, probably always will. It doesn’t explain everything, just a lot of things. So do people from 28 or so other NBA cities. Let the castigation of my words ensue…
Just do us a favor. If you’re going to constantly bring up the same diatribe, stop saying that you’re not going to bring it up again. And drop the euphemisms, just talk about why you don’t like x number of WHITE players on teams. And let’s be clear on another point – 90+% of ‘black’ players are mixed race in the world we live in. It could be as recent as their direct parents or in their ancestry. I have seen some great non African American players this season and currently in these playoffs. I’m not being pc here. My point was, and is, that it is the quality, not the color of a player, that matters. And you and your buddy should be prepared that in the range the Heat is picking in the draft, it includes Steinbach, Lopez, Stirtz, and possibly others. We should just pass if they are the best available players because of, you know, certain, um, persuasions.
You’re killing me with the draft picks stuff. Everything else you say I accept.
You’re killing me with the keep the older players stuff, which I think will lead to the same results.
Time for Miami to clean house starting at the top, all players over 30 and begin stockpiling all the young players and draft picks they it can get.
You cant quit on this obviously.
Still, Cs in the east finals should shake the foundations of this claim a bit. So lets wait a bit with this.
You are right, one game does not make a series.
I wasn’t defending anyone. What I pointed out is that as of today, your great GMs haven’t done shit, now or in the past. One team hasn’t won anything in 53 years, the other for 68 years. And I would bet this year will be no different for either team.
living in the past.u a tull guy?i am.seen him sunrise center in the early 90s.never forget sitting next to me was pavel bure
Actually I am. The great Ian Anderson. Stand Up, Benefit, Aqualung.
cool u ever see them in concert?
Always wanted to, never did. He’s still playing music.
Locomotive Breath.
“He hears the silence howling
Catches angels as they fall
And the all-time winner
Has got him by the b****.”
Maybe in the top five songs of all time. The piano opening alone is memorable.
Yup. Music is one thing we all seem to agree on. I imagine if the Heat were a contending team, we would agree on quite a few more.
Ian Anderson was/is a true virtuoso. The 3 albums listed above are all excellent. You can also argue for Living In The Past and Thick As A Brick. Very creative, melodic, diverse music with philosophical, poetic lyrics.
i love the playoffs .reg season dont watch any games to much except the heats.
no luka no reaves houstons a pretender okc denv minn would destroy lebrons team.
KD didn’t help them. Better them than Heat.
Yup. Half the fun at twice the price.
yeah hes another harden lemelo trae herro one on one player.a great one but doesnt impact winning enough .lebron knows how to get everybody involved kd doesnt.
cheatin spurs lost great i turned it off they were up by 12 in 4th.no wemby who should be a wizard anyway lol.what heat fan other than the best heat fan mr rc likes the cheatin spurs dont get that.that would be like a dolphin fan liking the cheatin pats
Because, Mr Conspiracy Flat Earth Society, Spurs didn’t cheat. And if we had gotten Wemby, you wouldn’t be saying shit.
admiral duncan wemby 3 generational players.what about my wizards rc john wall bradley beale the best u can do .somethings wrong with that dont u think.worse picks first.dats da way it was meant to be the draft to get my wizards playing like the heat every year
It’s not just the Wizards. Other teams had the same thing happen. Even happened to us. We should have gotten Rose. Instead we got pothead Beasley. Brook Lopez and Westbrook were chosen after us. Let’s see what new system they come up with. I don’t think deliberate tankers should be rewarded.
WOW! The Sixers, without Embiid, beat the crap out of Boston 111-97, in Boston. Tatum and Brown were the only 2 Celtics in double digits.
boston not very athletic.phily way more athletic.they got oladipos that can guard tatum and brown.whos gonna cover maxey nobody ,could be an interesting series.
The second game went exactly as I predicted it could. And for the reasons that hfl said below.
i give phily a good shot to win that series versus a much slower team.boston is less athletic than our team,except for brown no athleticism.
It’s going to be interesting. Two superstars can cover a lot of weaknesses. I predicted when Boston traded Simons for Vuc that it would impact the entirety of the team negatively. It took a long time to manifest itself, but it’s part of what could be happening now. Just think what will happen if, and probably now, when Embiid returns. I’m not a gambler, but betting Philly could turn out to be a shrewd move.
im not sure embid helps more than hurts 30 he slows em down big time,he cant move .either.i believe there better w/o him.drummonds fine in the middle still can play little bit and is rather massive.when we played tatum brown it seemed one always had off game.dont like either team hoping for 7 game series
It’s too soon to make definite conclusions. But, Philly’s got to be thinking, we can play with these guys.
I feel so relieved hearing Pat’s comprehensive plan for the future. Two key guys? Hmm?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9lAObVQaThk
Yes, which ones? The ones we are about to lose?. Or Bam and Ware? Or who?
I got insider information that it’s Jovic and Simone.
Riley sounds like Christopher Walken.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcn9ILmU-Ig
Heehee
Maybe Riley should explain why Heat passed on Maxey in 2020 vs taking Achiewa. Makes me sick every time watching Maxey torch someone. Still can’t believe it. At the time potentially Achiewa was another version of Bam. Really? That’s a helleva vision…wanting a duplicate role player especially when Heat were in dire need of a point guard other than a washed Lowry. Pathetic mindset.
What makes it more crazier is Riley Alma mater is Kentucky, so you would assume he would go with the Kentucky player, since he got bam, and herro from Kentucky. Kentucky had so many great players come out too with calipari as the coach.
I actually have explained this a few times. Coming into the draft, Precious was very highly regarded. The Heat thought he would live up to the expectations, but he didn’t. Precious vs Maxey? No contest. Justise vs Booker? Again, no contest. 14 teams passed on Giannis. 40 players were chosen before Jokic. It sucks, but it happens.
Talking about the 2020 draft is like talking about the 2020 election. Time to quit beating a dead horse. But since it was brought up…
I recall at the time most of us were clamoring for a PF to pair with Bam. Precious was thought to be the best PF available at #20 of a not so great group. 20-20 hindsight/second guessing is easy. If I had made better decisions, I would have only married once. Shit happens. Unless you are picking in the top of the lottery, its mostly a crap shoot. There were several busts who were picked before Precious. A few of them were lottery picks (e.g., James Wiseman, Patrick Williams, Killian Hayes, etc.).
If I had made better decisions, I would have only married once.
lolol!!
And the rest is true too.
You live and you learn. Kind of hard to teach an old dog new tricks…especially at 80+ years of age.
alimony?
chicago people still talking about trubisky over mahomes.sam bowie over mj.milic over d wade we are all hindsight gms was there anybody here saying we should have taken maxey the time the pick was done.2qbn are u listening?at least he got us quitter but now void a quitter were in a bad place right now.to tank or just retool.gm needs to be better the next few years..our heat hands are with a 80 plus year old man.is pat the oldest gm now let me google jerry friggin jones how bout them cowboys
Cowboys suck. Losers. Jerry Jones blows more smoke than Riley.
yeah there both octogenerians jerry was good when he had aikman emmit irvin hasnt done sht since then,
Jerry put it all together. Last one who did.
Make that Jimmy Johnson.
Bam should apologize for the entire season first
Per Google AI:
“Troll” is slang for a person who intentionally disrupts online communities or provokes others to elicit emotional reactions. While often used interchangeably with “asshole,” a troll specifically seeks to cause chaos, often through baiting, offensive comments, or malicious pranks. The term originates from both the fishing technique of “trolling” (casting a line to see what bites) and Scandinavian folklore creatures.”
Riley is the one who should be apologizing then retiring. Bam is just trying to make lemonade out of the lemons Riley has been providing. Rozier, Jovic, Herro, really?
There are more, going back further. Lowry, Harkness, Zeller, M Leonard. There are more but that’s off top of my head.
those are the end of bench guys 30 except for turtle
one good thing about living in cali west coast games are at normal times
Yup. It’s “bitchin”…as long as it isn’t pay tv. FTS!
U should apologize for that lame ahh take
lol, true!!
did he mean about bams performance or the teams perf if its the teams perf he has a point
It was Bam’s performance he was criticizing. That’s why I posted the definition of a troll.
There’s no I in team, but Bam is the leader. He should apologize first.
Bam should also apologize for being intentionally tripped and injured by an egotistical slimeball ballhog punk? I guess he should also apologize for being able to play only 11 minutes in a game the Heat lost in overtime by 1 point? Bam didn’t put the team together or coach it.
Put the blame where it belongs. I haven’t heard Arison, Riley or Spo apologize for sh*t!
The team’s performance. He’s the leader, he should apologize first.
Bam is waiting for an apology from Ball…while Heat fans await Pat’s apology. His season end press conference should be interesting.
Que the “we like our roster” press conference
it should only be about pats retiring this presser.i think what thats what heat fans only want to hear
Ball got his Karma for injuring Bam the very next game. It looked to me like Wemby elbowed Holiday in the face and then he got the chair pulled out from under him and got a dose of instant Karma.