Spending Thanksgiving on the road: ‘The schedule has been crazy early on’
The Miami Heat has spent most of the first month of the season on the road.
In total, 10 of the Heat’s first 17 games have come away from home, and the Heat entered Tuesday with three games left on its current four-game trip. So that means 13 of Miami’s first 20 games will come on the road.
By mid-January, the Heat will have played 26 of its first 42 games on the road.
That challenging early season schedule will have the Heat in a Chicago hotel on Thanksgiving as it awaits a Saturday matchup against the Bulls at the United Center. It marks the fourth time in the past 12 seasons, dating back to 2010-11, that the Heat has been in the middle of a road trip on Thanksgiving.
“It’s crazy. The schedule has been crazy early on,” veteran forward Udonis Haslem said ahead of the Heat’s game against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night at Little Caesars Arena. “Obviously, it sucks to be away from home for Thanksgiving, but it’s not the first time. It’s not our first rodeo.
“I think for us as a team in my experiences since I’ve been here with the Heat, those long road trips when you go away for four or five games and you’re away for nine or 10 or 11 days, those are the trips where regardless of what our record is on those trips, we usually come away from those trips stronger and more connected and attain better basketball.”
How will the Heat celebrate the holiday? Kyle Lowry is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at the team’s hotel in Chicago on Thursday.
“I was looking for somebody to host,” Haslem said. “I thought it was going to be Jimmy [Butler] because he played there. But I’m happy Low stepped in and took care of that. I think we spend more time or just as much as time with each other as we do with our families. So in a sense, we become family.
“I think when you build those kind of relationships and those bonds when you look at someone on your team as not just your teammate but as your brother, I think that’s when you go out and play hard and you play together and you be the best version of yourself and you build championship habits because you’re playing for one another. You’re enjoying each other’s success. That’s your brother.”
The Heat’s roster includes more accomplished veterans this season such as Lowry, 35, who won an NBA title as a member of the Toronto Raptors in 2019. Miami also added NBA champions P.J. Tucker and Markieff Morris this past summer.
But that doesn’t change Haslem’s approach as the longtime team captain.
“It doesn’t really change for me at all because I’ve always taken the approach and understood that everybody is motivated differently,” Haslem said.
“So just because we got
more veterans doesn’t mean I change my approach. I’ve dealt with veterans, I’ve dealt with young guys, I’ve dealt with guys in the middle of their career. I’ve always talked to people and dealt with people differently. It’s not really about how many years they have in the league. It’s about the person.
“So understanding the type of person that Low is, understanding the type of person that P.J. is. That’s first and foremost before I can even talk to them and try to motivate them or encourage them or be respected by them. I got to understand them and they got to understand me. Those have been skills and habits that I’ve been building for years before those guys even got here, so it doesn’t change.”
BAM’S TURKEY DRIVE
Bam Adebayo hosted his fourth annual Thanksgiving Drive on Friday at
Charles Hadley Park in Liberty City before getting on a plane to travel with the Heat to Washington, D.C., for the start of the team’s trip.
Adebayo, along with Publix and OnDecker, provided a Thanksgiving dinner to 1,820 families from Liberty City through his BBB (Bam, Books and Brotherhood) Foundation.
“Thanksgiving is top two on my list of favorite holidays because you’re giving thanks and that’s the thing I’ve always wanted to do,” Adebayo said. “That has been my favorite holiday, plus I like to eat. So that’s a plus. But also, I get to feed other people and they get to feed their families. So that’s how I think about it.”
Of choosing Liberty City for the event, Adebayo said: “Just because it’s where I first started. Obviously, talking to UD and talking to Uncle Luke [Luther Campbell], it was like the perfect city for what I was trying to do and what I was trying to get accomplished. So I’ve always been doing it there and they’ve always been coming out and showing support and embracing me. The city has embraced me.”