Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade says a Jimmy Butler incident led to the demise of the organization
Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade has noticed a difference in his former team on the basketball court.
He said there is a lack of chemistry nowadays, which is much different from when Wade had the Heat among the top teams in the NBA. He recently spoke about it on his WY Network.
"Sometimes, you see certain teams and you know that they know everything about each other," Wade said. "They spend all the time together and they're just connected and you can just see it on the floor. You haven't seen that with the Heat in a while."
Wade said he felt issues began once the organization's relationship with ex-star Jimmy Butler, who publicly feuded with team president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra. It reached a peak when Butler and Spoelstra got into a shouting match during a timeout. The dust-up also included Heat captain Udonis Haslem.
The turmoil ended with the Heat trading Butler to the Golden State Warriors last February.
"It started when everything started going astray with Jimmy," Wade said. "We've been a disconnected organization from that point. I want to see them get back to that connectivity that the Miami Heat normally has. If you see that, you'll see success. We'll see them back in the playoffs."
After four straight seasons in the Play-In Tournament, Wade wants to see return back to their perch atop the Eastern Conference. Wade believes they should attempt to acquire another superstar this offseason, but he feels it's more than just that.
The Heat need to get back on the same page.
"It's not just about going out and getting a star player," Wade said. "I know the star player will get you back in there, but you'll be out in the first round if that star player and your players don't mesh and that connectivity isn't there. We've been a little disorganized, a little disgruntled organization for the last few years. We need to get that off. Hopefully, this break allows the Miami Heat to retool. We need to get back to where we deserve to be and that's competing for something."
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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of HeatRoundtable. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com