The Miami Heat had an evening practice on Tuesday afternoon, preparing for Wednesday’s first scrimmage game. Udonis Haslem and Derrick Jones Jr spoke to the media on Zoom afterwards about the team’s current status and the preparation before tomorrow. Here’s five main Post-Practice Comments from Sports, UD and DJJ.

Post-Practice Comments #1:

Spo says the guys have been chomping at the bit to play. They’re all excited to have a game day tomorrow @5ReasonsSports

— alex (@tropicalblanket) July 21, 2020

There has been a lot of excitement from the players this week after practice as they get closer to the return of play. Spoelstra touched on this saying that’s all they’ve been talking about, especially for the game tomorrow. He also mentioned that every player in the bubble right now will get minutes tomorrow, which might mean no minutes upon the return of Bam Adebayo and Kendrick Nunn. This then gives these guys the time they need to get back to 100%, and gives some of the bench guys an opportunity to earn a spot in the rotation.

Post-Practice Comments #2:

“Ain’t nobody complaining. We got a No Complain rule.”

“We got a short amount of time to get a whole lot of work done.”@5ReasonsSports pic.twitter.com/mfebO7uYrc

— alex (@tropicalblanket) July 21, 2020

Udonis Haslem got asked about what he likes about this type of environment, he replied, “Ain’t nobody complaining. We got a no complain rule.” This is indeed true with this team, especially under their leader UD. Haslem has talked about this bubble in the past and always talks about one thing, focus. He wants their guys to be with their guys and essentially stay locked in. He also said “We got a short amount of time to get a whole lot of work done,” when referring to the return of play. Although we don’t know the minutes UD will get over the next few weeks, we do know he’s been putting in more work than most team’s starting lineups.

Post-Practice Comment #3:

“This is the moment we all been waiting for. We’ve all been wanting to go back to basketball.”@5ReasonsSports pic.twitter.com/GsG2ycfmAy

— alex (@tropicalblanket) July 21, 2020

Derrick Jones Jr begins the discussion with the joy of getting back to doing what he loves. He said, “This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for.”

All of the guys feel the same way, but it’s a bit different for Derrick. He’s had a bit of a rocky road throughout this hiatus after testing positive for Covid-19. At the end of the day, he just wants to get back to basketball. Derrick will look to play some major minutes off of the bench for the Heat. He may be asked to jump into the starting lineup some nights for match-up reasons.

Post-Practice Comment #4:

Erik Spoelstra says some of Andre Iguodala's best work with Heat has come in recent days, notes that Iguodala did not have a training camp this season.

— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) July 21, 2020

Andre Iguodala is one of the Heat’s most intriguing players entering the playoffs. His experience–His defense–His leadership. Which is why it was great to hear Erik talk so highly of him today after practice. He said: “He’s gotten better each day.” Spoelstra also says that this has been great for him since he didn’t have a training camp before the season. He also ends the discussion saying that he’s seen the different ways that he can impact a game to help the team win. Spoelstra will definitely look to Iguodala in tough spots since he’s a guy he can trust in a playoff game.

Post-Practice Comment #5:

Spoelstra: “we are really grateful to be able to be able to partake in this.”

Says that they just talked about it and they all realize that a lot of people in this world aren’t able to work right now pic.twitter.com/5e7o0dZskR

— Clay Ferraro (@ClayWPLG) July 21, 2020

Spoelstra starts saying that at some point you can’t look at this situation from a basketball perspective. He says they are so grateful to partake in this since there are so many people around the world right now out of work. He says he’s talked to the team about this recently and thinks it’s important. Erik Spoelstra and the Heat have been using these zoom calls with media to touch on all of the important things going on in our world. They’ve discussed the pandemic, social injustice, and much more over the course of the last two weeks in hopes of getting their point across. They clearly have a bigger goal in mind beyond basketball.