OFF THE WALL

Leonard goes from Heat starter to cheerleader

Meyers Leonard was bent forward at the waist, standing a few feet away from Miami coach Erik Spoelstra on the Heat sideline, screaming with every bit of the volume that his deep and booming voice can generate.

This is his role right now for the Heat. His only role. Leonard is in a tough spot these days; a full-time starter during the regular season, he is now out of the rotation as the Heat have made their run to the Eastern Conference finals. It is a bitter pill for him to swallow — yet to his credit, he hasn’t acted the least bit bitter about his current reality.

“My team knows this, and our coaching staff knows this,” Leonard told The Associated Press. “I would do anything to be out there. And I’d be lying if I said that I’m not competitive as hell. I wish I was impacting the game on the floor. I’m not, but as a person and as a player, I want what’s best for everybody.”

So for now, the 7-foot, 260-pound, chiseled center is the tallest, strongest and best-paid assistant coach in these playoffs. He calls out what he’s seeing on every possession, pulls aside teammates for quick one-on-one chats when necessary, and on off days he’s getting his on-court work in just in case he’s needed to play.

Leonard has started 49 of his 51 appearances with the Heat this season, more starts than he made in his seven seasons with Portland combined. But in the playoffs, he’s logged a total of nine minutes, all in one appearance.

Leonard, more than anything else, got unlucky at the worst possible time.

He badly sprained his left ankle in early February and wasn’t anywhere near being ready to return to the lineup when the NBA season was suspended March 11 because of the coronavirus pandemic. And then when team facilities shut down as a precaution, Leonard’s rehab process had to be amended as well.

That was the first issue. The second was Miami became a different team a few days after he got hurt, pulling off a trade to bring Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill to the Heat. Crowder has become a starter, and Spoelstra told Leonard before Miami resumed play in the NBA’S restart bubble that he was taking the rotation in a different direction.

It was tough on Leonard mentally. He was struggling when he got to the bubble because of his ankle, then spent days wrestling about whether he should stand for the national anthem or kneel with his teammates, and on top of all that he essentially lost his job as well.

“There’s just two things that I won’t ever let be questioned and that’s character and work ethic,” Leonard said. “Every day when I walk through the door, I’m going to be a great guy, a great teammate. It’s not fake. So I’m trying to make my impact now from the sideline.”

Trivia question

Leonard (Illinois) was the No. 11 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. Who were the first two picks?

Needed a yellow jersey

The 1980 Tour de France champion,

was hit by a car while riding his bike on Sunday, and hospitalized with leg and arm fractures, the French press reported.

The accident happened in the Seine-etmarne region, east of Paris, where the 73-yearold Zoetemelk has lived for decades. It occurred on the final day of this year’s Tour, cycling’s most prestigious race, which was won by Tadej Pogacar.

The Tour tweeted that Zoetemelk was transported by helicopter to the hospital.

Trivia answer

Anthony Davis was the first pick, and Michael Kidd-gilchrist was the second. It was the first time college teammates (Kentucky) were the first two picks in a draft.