With the sports world reacting to Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier being arrested by the FBI as part of a gambling probe, along with others, the fanbase and the team have had to deal with the impacts of it. As Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra looks to move his team forward from the situation while sending empathy to the guard, Rozier's teammates, like Bam Adebayo and others, have sent their support.
Rozier's arrest came on the morning after Miami's loss to the Orlando Magic, 125-121, leading to the NBA putting the 31-year-old on immediate leave. Adebayo would speak after Friday's shootaround about Rozier, saying the team has “full support” for him and even mentioned how it felt “weird” not seeing him, according to The Miami Herald.
“You never want to see something like that happen,” Adebayo said. “For us, as a team, we stand behind him, full support. And like I said, the biggest thing for us is keep praying for him, keep cheering for him behind the scenes and going out here to win games and change the narrative.”
“You support him, through and through,” Adebayo continued. “That’s our brother at the end of the day. It felt kind of weird in him not being here, actually, because he’s usually the first person I get to talk to in the morning, and he brings that great energy to our team. So, for us, it’s uplifting that, and also playing through the noise.”
The Heat had a team meeting Thursday to discuss Terry Rozier's situation
While the Heat look to recover after the tough loss to the Magic in the opener, there is no denying that the news of Rozier's arrest took the team for a loop. Spoelstra said Friday that the team had a meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation, with Nikola Jovic giving some insight into the conversation and how much of a “great person” Rozier is and how much the team adores him.
“We just kept it simple,” Jovic said. “Spo told us what happened and how it’s going to look, and that’s it. I just feel like we’ve got to be on the same page and know exactly what’s happening, so that’s it.”
“We’re together in this,” Jovic continued. “Terry is a great person, and we all love him, and we’re with him. We’ll help him as much as we can. But I can’t say it’s easy, I can’t say it’s hard, but we just got to be together and continue doing this, I guess, without him for some time. But we’re with him and we love him and we’re going to support him in every way we can.”
If there is one thing for certain, the team has Rozier's back as more players on the Heat, like Davion Mitchell and Jaime Jaquez Jr., expressed their own support.
Miami looks for its first win of the season on Friday night when it takes on the Memphis Grizzlies.
