The Miami Heat are back in the NBA Finals, becoming just the second eighth seed to win their conference. After surviving a comeback effort from the Boston Celtics with a rout in Game 7, Miami is in their second Finals in four seasons but with an altered supporting cast around Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. The most notable new addition (as it pertains to this year's playoffs) is Caleb Martin.

Martin started last season with the Heat on a two-way contract and worked his way into becoming a key player on both ends of the floor in the 2023 playoffs. He nearly won the Eastern Conference Finals MVP after stepping up time and time again, especially in the series-clinching win. When looking back on his journey, he also shared an important message with the Heat: there is still work to be done.

“I definitely reflect on where I started,” Caleb Martin said. “The journey it's taken to get here — even as early as the two-way last year. I think more than anything, it's kind of a weird feeling 'cause I'm also understanding that as happy as I am, as grateful as I am to be here, I also understand that we have four more. Like, the job's not done. We didn't go through all we went through and my personal journey to stop here. We're tryna get what we came here to get. So, we got four more.”

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As one of several undrafted players on the Heat's roster, Martin has had to grind extra hard to get to where he is now. Even though there is a chance that Tyler Herro can return during the Finals, Martin will be relied on heavily by the Heat for his versatile defense and shot creation on the biggest stage.

The Heat will face the Denver Nuggets in the Finals, which start on Thursday. Slowing down Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray will not be an easy task. But so far, that hasn't stopped Martin or Miami on their road to the 2023 NBA Finals. Winning this uphill battle — somewhat literally, because of the altitude in Denver — will cement this Heat run as one of the greatest underdog stories in the history of sports.