Subscribe
Follow Us
This past season, the Miami Heat played without any All-Star in their team but only missed out on the playoffs due to a tie-breaker. They have proven that their culture of promoting team play and hard work can make them successful and even have a playoff appearance.
That said, it does not come as a surprise that they have one of the league’s most rigid conditioning programs. The team wants their players to be in “world-class shape” and is promoting it even to their new acquisitions. In fact, they take pictures of them every Monday to check their progress and also have a visual for them to see the transformations of their bodies. They even have an internal rule where players are fined $100 for every instance they’re seen putting their hands on their knees to take breathers during games, according to HoopsHype's Alex Kennedy.
“Miami has a rule that players can’t put their hands on their knees for a breather during a practice or game. Any player who does this is fined $100, according to a league source who’s close with several former Heat players. If that’s a rule, you can imagine what the penalty would be for showing up overweight…”
It may seem like too much for a player to take but the Heat are sticking to their rule to make it known to everyone that their culture is real. They have apparently fined them as agreed upon, which resulted to them playing better. During the second half of this past year, the team turned their season around and won 30 of their last 41 games.
Despite not being the most popular rule, the Heat plan to stick with it as it has brought a lot positive changes to their players. The $100 fine is also not a huge amount for them as most of them earn millions each season, but it symbolizes hard work and always being ready to give their all during games, which is the main purpose why they have the rule in the first place.
