Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat team, Arisons add to Hurricane Irma relief
MIAMI — The Heat stepped forward on several fronts Thursday in the wake of the devastation left behind by Hurricane Irma.
The foundation of Heat owner Micky Arison, the chairman of Carnival Corporation, and his wife Madeleine announced an immediate $2.5 million donation to Direct Relief, UNICEF and United Way of MiamiDade County, to support most urgent hurricane relief efforts.
In addition, Carnival Foundation and the Heat Charitable Fund plan to team to raise $5 million in relief funds, with the Arison foundation pledging to match that commitment.
Beyond the financial considerations, Carnival Cruise Line is deploying 11 ships to deliver emergency supplies to affected ports in Florida and throughout the Caribbean.
Earlier, the Heat announced that they will team with the Warriors to airlift more than 100 pre-Hurricane Irma pets from local Miami-area animal shelters to no-kill animal shelters in Oakland, Calif.
The relocation of prestorm animals, through the assistance of FedEx, is designed to create space in Miami-area shelters for animals displaced by the storm.
A FedEx MD-10 will arrive in Miami before the rescue airlift with more than $11 million worth of relief for victims of Hurricane Irma from Direct Relief International.
Heat captain Udonis Haslem and coach Erik Spoelstra as well as Heat staffers will assist Friday in loading more than 100 dogs and cats from the Miamiarea shelters.
The animals will then be flown to Oakland, where Warriors players Zaza Pachulia and Jordan Bell, assistant coach Willie Green and other Warriors staffers will help unload them.
“Hurricane Irma has devastated many families and cities that mean so much to us,” Heat President Pat Riley said in a statement. “As a long-time resident of South Florida, I have witnessed the resiliency of our communities; watching neighbors come together to overcome adversity. The South Florida community has supported our organization throughout the years, so it is only fitting that we are there to support and help uplift this community in its time of need.”
Dragic goes for gold
Five months after missing out on the NBA playoffs in a tiebreaker, Heat guard
Goran Dragic will go for the gold Sunday after his Slovenian national team defeated Spain, 92-72, Thursday in a semifinal at EuroBasket in Istanbul, Turkey.
Against an opponent loaded with NBA talent, including Pau Gasol, Marc
Gasol and Ricky Rubio, Dragic closed with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists in his 27 minutes.
Slovenia, which improved to 8-0 in the event, advanced to Sunday’s 2:30 p.m. championship game against the winner of today’s semifinal between Russia and Serbia. It is Slovenia’s first appearance in a EuroBasket championship game.
Russia’s roster includes NBA veterans Timofey
Mozgov and Aleksei Shved. Serbia’s roster includes NBA player Bogdan
Bogdanovic and Boban Marjanovic.
Dragic, 31, the lone active NBA player on the Slovenia roster, said he will retire from international competition following EuroBasket.
“I never thought it was going to be this kind of a game,” Dragic said. “Spain, they’re a really tough team. But all the credit goes to the team. We didn’t scare. We said we needed to play our game, we need to run, we need to attack, be aggressive. “We executed amazingly.” Slovenia’s roster also includes former NBA player
Anthony Randolph, as well as 18-year-old phenom Luka
Doncic, a possible No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft.
Dragic will have only a one-week turnaround before the start of the Heat’s training camp, which opens with media day at AmericanAirlines Arena on Sept. 25, to be followed by the first day of training camp Sept. 26.
Dragic said last summer’s EuroBasket qualifying with Spain led to his best season with the Heat, arriving to last season’s training camp in regular-season condition.