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The highly anticipated return of Sun Sentinel Miami Heat beat reporter Ira Winderman. Discussing the fallout from the Bam - LaMelo incident and his expectations for the Heat this offseason.
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00:00about. Ira Winderman is on the Toyota of Hollywood hotline. He has covered the heat for 38 seasons.
00:06I don't believe there is anyone in NBA media who has covered one team consecutively for as long as
00:14Ira has covered the heat. Is that true? I don't think there's any person who started covering a
00:19team for the first 38 seasons as a journalist. I mean, I think you can go back to the Romans
00:24and the Olympics and when they were running naked in the marathon. So yeah, I don't know if that
00:28just says that I'm not upwardly mobile like Solana, you know, but it is what it is. My goal
00:34still is by year 40 to get my name on the show also, but we'll see. Well, you took the
00:38six-year
00:39hiatus, but we're not going to hold it against you. Let's talk about Tuesday night's game here
00:43for a second. If Bam is in the game, if Bam doesn't get injured early on, do you in your
00:48heart of hearts
00:49believe the heat win that game with no problem and that we're previewing a game tonight? There is no
00:54way the way that game played out. They don't win that game when you're talking about a one-point
00:58game, which they won twice. They won the game twice. They were up six at the end of regulation.
01:02They won the game. They had Tyler Hero with this remarkable Reggie Miller final seconds
01:07performance there with his six points. They won the game again. So in a game that close,
01:12you add a near all NBA talent, of course they win that game. But you know what? You're going to
01:18watch
01:18so much of this playoffs over the weekend. Take any one of these teams' best players out,
01:22whether it's Jalen Brunson for the Knicks, Cade Cunningham, Shea Gilgis-Alexander. It changes
01:28everything. That one moment in time, especially Hawk, because not only did the Heat lose their
01:34best player, but arguably the Hornets' best player got to play on when a day later the NBA is nice
01:40enough to tell us, yeah, he should have been kicked out of the game. You talk about a turnaround.
01:45What's the fallout from that, Ira, from the league standpoint? Because the idea that they,
01:49and Bam said it yesterday, the idea that they can't review a hostile act because play continued
01:54after that, to me, just, it doesn't make any sense. If there's a hostile act or the potential of one,
01:59and then five minutes later, if the NBA office views it at the replay center, they should be able
02:04to go back and then make a judgment call based on the letter of the law. And they ruled it
02:10a flagrant
02:11two. In theory, LaMelo should have been out of the game as well. Do you think the NBA will make
02:16some adjustments to that rule? I do. And also, Solana, remember that he would have gotten two
02:20free throws and the ball. So you're talking about a four-point swing at a one-point game. You have
02:24that. But to your point, you know this, Solana, and everyone knows this about Max Struz. The league
02:29can go back four, five, six minutes later on going, ah, he stepped out of bounds. Or that wasn't a
02:34three,
02:34that was a two. Or that came before the shot clock. So let's get this straight. A guy can rip
02:39a joint
02:40out of a socket. Injure a guy so he misses the rest of the game. We can't go back and
02:44see that.
02:44It's like it never happened. But if you step on that three-point line, boom, it's like an electronic
02:49buzzer goes on on the referee's belts, and they can go back and change it. I do think they'll change
02:54it. I think it was that egregious. Now, if LaMelo had scored in between, you can't take those points
02:59off the board. You have to be reasonable. They were playing the game thinking Bam was out,
03:03thinking LaMelo was in. But still, there was enough time in that game to go back and adjudicate it.
03:07I don't understand this. Are the referees, and usually there's two or three in the replay center
03:12in Secaucus, like are they just sitting there eating donuts and not paying attention? Surely
03:17they had to turn to each other and say, yeah, that didn't look pretty good. So if you're going to
03:22pay
03:22them to be in the replay center, let them work in the replay center, especially guys. That was the
03:27only game going on at the time. This wasn't like the final Sunday of the season, where there were 15
03:32games and you didn't know which screen you should look at what's going on. So I think that made it
03:37even more egregious. I agree. You know what's funny too, when you're laying out that scenario,
03:43LaMelo, because play goes on, you can't take away a basket. But if LaMelo goes down,
03:49shoots a three, and it counts for three, and then they see during the commercial break that his foot
03:54was on the line, they can actually take a point away, even throughout that entire scenario that you
04:00can't look at anything. But two minutes later, they could look at his foot on the line and take away
04:05a
04:05point. Well, I'll tell you something else. You could also challenge a foul, and Solana knows
04:10this from covering the Heat. There's a proximity rule. If something wrong happened in proximity to
04:15the review, they can rule on that also. So literally, if the Heat were called for stepping
04:20out of bounds there, Spolster could have challenged and said, we didn't step out of bounds,
04:25knowing the referees could look at the play in its entirety. It's crazy. If Bam Adebayo,
04:30who did a great job of saving the ball back to Simone Fontecchio, was out of bounds,
04:35the Heat, knowing Bam was on the line, would have challenged, because the referees then could
04:40have looked at what Solana knows is called proximity, and they could have reviewed there.
04:44So you know what? You need a test case. There's a bird rule in salary cap. Maybe there'll be the
04:50out-of-bio rule when it comes to that, but little good it does the Heat right now.
04:54Ira, and I don't want to turn this into us bashing the NBA and the officials, because-
04:59Right, but the way that they-
05:01Hey, only you get paid by the Heat. I'm good. Go ahead.
05:04Yeah.
05:04The way that they-
05:04I got six years to make up here with Ira. I want to bash everybody.
05:07The inconsistency by the officials, depending on which crew you have, who the official,
05:13the crew chief is, with the marginal contact rule, with the proximity rule, where there's
05:19instances where they could go back, view the entire length of the play, and then make a ruling,
05:23and depending on what crew you have, they deem things totally different from one game to the
05:28next, and on top of that, you're looking at a situation where early in the season, Norman
05:34Powell is refereed one way with continuation, and then the second half of the season, I'm not
05:40saying this is why Norm struggled. We know why he struggled. His body wore down, and the injuries
05:44just kind of took a toll, but then he can't get to the free throw line at all anymore, because
05:49referees have-
05:50No, I'm appreciating changes, but in this case, you have a replay center, and the one thing you
05:54know from sports, and I know Solana, you watch a lot of soccer. How many times after the fact
05:58do you see the referee walk to the middle of the field and do this with the square? VAR
06:02called me, something is going on. We live now at a point, there's off-the-field officials
06:07everywhere. Now the NFL, they can look at pass interference, they look at other stuff, even
06:11when the referees on the field don't. Hockey, we see the same thing. They'll continue to play,
06:16all of a sudden the buzzer goes off, because in Toronto, they realize the puck did cross the
06:20goal line, and was a goal, and they pick up the game, so there was the opportunity here.
06:24You know, it's a fine line. We hate the intrusion of the stoppages. You know, Solana, we like
06:29to get out of the arena in under three hours for these games that go forever, but you're
06:33talking a play-in game. You're talking a game where one team season's going to end. It would
06:37seem you would officiate that a little bit differently, so I agree. Again, I believe this
06:42becomes the test case. I'm also curious. Everyone has seen this picture. Curtis Blair is looking
06:47down. He sees Bam on the ground. He sees the arm. I'm very curious when I look at the referees
06:52for
06:52the first round of the playoffs. If his name is on there, how many games he has, if he has
06:57fewer
06:57than the other members of that crew, because again, the NBA does penalize. They just don't publicize
07:02when they penalize officials, so keep an eye out for the name Curtis Blair. See if it does or doesn't
07:07show up on postseason officiating crews. Ira, is there any chance the Heat run it back next season
07:15with a very similar version of this roster? Bam and Tyler and Andrew Wiggins and maybe some
07:22low-tier additions? Is there a chance that it gets run back? I mean, there's always a chance
07:27if you can't do something else. You know, you can't go desperate. Solana knows this after LeBron
07:32left. They said, oh, but we're going to draft Shabazz Napier. We're going to get Josh McRoberts
07:37and Danny Granger, and it'll be fine. Everything is fine. You can't do that either. I think you have to,
07:42this is a conversation we've had on the show. I think you can go laterally or even backwards,
07:48because I think there is going to be a riot if you run this back.
07:53I, I, I, they won't run this back exactly. I don't know how dramatical it'd be. They have two
07:58choices. I'm writing this in my Sunday column, The Sun Sentinel. You can just step back and say,
08:02hey, we were 10th place the last two years. We need to reset. Let's see the youth of Yatrick,
08:07Yaconis, of, of Kalil Ware, of, of, of Pella Larson, and just play the young guys. And I'm
08:12fine with that. That's kind of fun. I won't expect to be more than 10th place, but as you guys
08:17know,
08:18because this drives ratings also, you have names out there like Giannis, like Kawhi, like Ja Morant.
08:23There's three names out there that are going to be in play through the draft to be on.
08:27So the Heat have to make a decision. We know who they are. They always go big. They're going to
08:31make
08:32the chance. People go, oh, but Kawhi's in his 30s. Oh, but you know, Giannis is 30s. So is Shaq.
08:38So is Jimmy Butler when they got players. They were in that range. So the opportunity is going to be
08:43there. It's a question of the value of the Heat's assets. I don't mind seeing the kids. I love seeing
08:49players develop. I'm patient. When you do something for 38 years, you're kind of patient. So I could wait
08:55on them, but I know Pat and I know the Arisons and they want to fill that building and they
08:59want to
08:59create interest. There are as many top tier names who could be traded this off season as I can
09:05remember. What you can't do, Hawk, is this. You can't get stuck in the waiting game of Damian Lillard
09:12two years ago. Well, all of a sudden it's October and you ain't got nothing. So I'm not saying they
09:18can go to the Bucks and go and make up your mind. Are you trading them or the Clippers with
09:21Kawhi
09:22or the Grizzlies with Ja Morant, but they have to have dates. If not by this date, then we go
09:28to B,
09:28then we go to C, or maybe just plan youth and go from there. But they can't let this thing
09:33play out
09:33like it did with Damian Lillard two years ago. Who makes the most sense for them basketball-wise?
09:38Solana and I were talking about this yesterday because I was saying, you know what, if they're
09:41all kind of injury prone, I'll go with the guy in his young 20s who's injury prone, who has more
09:47upside than I think Giannis or Kawhi do. I feel like they're on the decline when I say decline. They're
09:53still elite players, Kawhi, certainly. But I almost feel, I think I may have talked myself
09:58into it as Solana and I were talking about it yesterday. I may have talked myself into
10:03Ja making the most sense as the big whale. Well, I see, but he would be the little whale
10:08because you wouldn't have to pay as much. As a matter of fact, if you've been reading the stories,
10:11the ones on ESPN, he's almost looked as a negative asset that the Grizzlies would have to throw
10:16something in with him for all the trouble he's been two years left on his contract. So I tweeted this
10:22out
10:22the other day. If I can get off Nikola Jovic's four-year contract for Ja's two-year contract,
10:28I can alleviate a problem. They can alleviate a problem. Yes, I'm taking on 50 million,
10:33but I'm offloading 16 million and increasing thereafter. So I could see someone like that
10:37of all those players to be the best fit if he decides to show up for work. I think Kawhi
10:43is
10:43the better fit than Giannis for this reason. If you are going to start Giannis and Bam and say Andrew
10:48Wiggins, you're not going to have the shooting. You're not going to have that go-to guy
10:52when we saw Tyler throw up that three at the angular regulation. Kawhi Leonard is a cold-blooded,
10:57Jimmy Butler-like killer in those situations. Now, is he going to show up for more than 40 games in
11:03the season? That's another question. I think the fit for what the Heat have now, and to fit someone
11:08in, I would say Kawhi, and I have heard from someone close to this situation, the Clippers
11:13have had enough. They moved off James Harden. They're looking to move off Kawhi. They want to get
11:18stability. So I think Kawhi would be fascinating. Ira, going back to your point regarding the
11:24waiting game, the Heat should have certain dates, and if what they want done doesn't get done by that
11:29date, they should move forward and go for plan B. Is that the biggest mistake leading up to the trade
11:34deadline? They put all their cards in on Giannis. Understandably so, but when push came to shove,
11:40the Bucs got cold feet, and the Heat had no other lateral moves to make before the deadline.
11:45But remember, at midseason, the Heat also didn't stink. At midseason, we didn't say, well, this is
11:50going to 10th place. We're screwed. Got to do something. Remember, Solana, there's a seven-game
11:54winning streak there. They were feeling good about themselves. It's a different spot. When you're
11:58coming off consecutive 10th-place seasons, there's no logic that tells you you're going to be better.
12:03A matter of fact, gentlemen, and I wrote this for my Sunday column in the Sun Sentinel, I'm not sure
12:07they'll be good enough for 10th place next season for this reason. The Indiana Pacers are going to go
12:12from 14th in the East to number two or three. They get Tyrese Halliburton back. They get Aviga
12:17Zubac for an entire season, not just five games. Pascal Siakam, again, gets to be a number two
12:23instead of a number one. Pacers are going to zoom past them. Look at the Wizards. They're going to
12:27play to win. With Trey Young and with Anthony Davis, they're in it not to be the lottery team
12:33they were. Next year, at this point, we might be saying, damn, Ira, they were so close to 10th place
12:37if they only won on the last weekend of the season, which goes back to what Hawk was saying
12:42at the top here, is that they've got to do something because in the East, which has gotten
12:46so much better, if you're staying in place, you're falling behind. And let's not sleep on the Bulls
12:52because it'll be Matas Buzelas' third season, and this is the breakout season. This is when Matas
12:59becomes the next MJ in Chicago. As long as Josh Giddy doesn't find any more young girlfriends,
13:02I'm all in on that, but that's another story for another day. Unfounded. That's all unfounded,
13:07Ira. How dare you? Your son's wedding, Ira Winderman, it is such a glorious day to have
13:12him back on the show. Your son's wedding, I know Solana and Jimmy heard me say it when
13:17I came back on the air the Monday after your son's wedding. Your son's wedding was fantastic.
13:23Very proud of your son, Jake, and his lovely new wife, which is crazy to say. I got a delightful
13:30thank you card from them over, I think it was Wednesday or Thursday of this week, but that
13:36wedding that was thrown by her family and yours was one of the nicest weddings I've ever been to
13:43in my life. You know, and of course, now you have Solana and his late Como wedding. You're going to
13:47blow us all out of the water, so I understand that also. True story, folks. The wife told me,
13:53I don't care if the Heat play tonight. Again, when you book a venue, it's a year in advance. You
13:57don't
13:57know there's going to be a Heat game. It happened to be a big Magic game. So I try to
14:01sneak out a
14:01little because it's who I am to check a score on my phone, make sure no one's looking. And as
14:05I walk
14:05out, there are the Hockmans with his wife, Lori, taking her to go cookie because you got to take
14:10it to go somewhere. They're heading out there. They're fully stuffed. I still have no idea what
14:14the food was at the wedding because I had to be nice and very un-Ira-like sociable for four
14:20straight
14:20hours. But I knew the Hockman got there to go, so I know he was going to be happy.
14:24Yeah, we kind of did the Irish exit, too. You caught us leaving. We didn't say goodbye to anybody.
14:29And you caught me checking your score, which is why none of this ever happened.
14:33And I am now privy to what happened to the Miami Heat. Seven-game win streak. Ira misses one game.
14:39They lose 10 of their last 15, and the season was done after that. Way to go, Ira.
14:45Obviously my fault.
14:46Well, I believe it was that pregame that Solana actually mushed all future, except for that one
14:55night, all future third quarters for the Heat. Correct me if I'm wrong, Solana. That was the
15:00night that you mushed them. Yeah, they had won 14 consecutive third quarters after blowing it in
15:05Boston, Ira. And I asked Spoh about it, and he wasn't thrilled with me asking. He said,
15:10why would you ask that question? But they won the third quarter that night.
15:14They won the third quarter that night against the Magic by one. And then lost every other one.
15:17I think they lost every single other one, yeah. But they lost that game, and I told Jake,
15:21he no longer has to name his firstborn Keyshawn, so at least there's that.
15:24Can you imagine Matas Puzelas and Kobe White together? Oh, we didn't even have to imagine.
15:31We saw it, and the Bulls still got rid of him. Could you believe that Kobe White shot when he
15:36went in?
15:37And it was defended as well as you could. And again, that's why I say they literally lost that game
15:43twice the way it played out. And people forget, Solana saw this, a lot of people did.
15:48Pella Larson was wide open heading down the court the other way when Davion Mitchell got that final
15:53play. If he literally throws the ball up in the air, Pella catches it, lays it in, a completely
15:58different story. And the one thing I said, I went on Charlotte Radio before that game,
16:03I firmly believe the winner of that game was going to make the playoffs because we see how
16:07god-awful the Magic can be when they're not playing cohesive basketball. So yeah, I was thinking
16:12this morning, should have been in Orlando on the way up, should have been booking my Delta ticket
16:16tomorrow for Detroit. They were that close, but man, that was a hell of an effort.
16:21That was Davion's game to win. Can't fault Davion. That was his game to win.
16:26No, no, when he took it and he had the gonads to take the shot there, and you know what?
16:29Maybe there should have been a make-up foul for Bam, for Terry Rozier,
16:33for the first round pick and everything that went wrong. I think the league blew it. The fact
16:37they're going to give the Heat the number one overall pick, though, I'll be fine with that.
16:41From your mouth to God's ears. Ira Winderman, read his work in the Sun Sentinel. Make sure you
16:47have the Sun Sentinel app, sunsentinel.com, and follow Ira on social media as well. What a delight
16:53it was on behalf of my radio partner, Crowder and me and Solana, to welcome you back to the WQAM
17:00airwaves. And Crowder wishes he could be here, but he was unavoidably detained.
17:06Well, the fact that you fired Crowder to give me a job, I'm just all for it. So thank you
17:09guys.
17:10Full steam ahead. Like the Heat, I got to make moves. I can't be caught standing past
17:16season after season. We'll see you, Ira.
17:19See you guys. Appreciate it.
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