South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Viewed as a game changer
Heat’s Winslow sees bright future for Williamson
Duke freshman Zion Williamson's shoe blowout against North Carolina has blown up the debate about NBA draft rules.
MIAMI — Justise Winslow was watching in anticipation of a blowout.
Forgive the Duke arrogance, but there has been plenty of reason this season for that type of thinking.
The Miami Heat playmaker and former Blue Devils national champion got one, as he took in ESPN’s Wednesday broadcast of Duke-North Carolina. The 88-72 loss to the Tar Heels just wasn’t the type of blowout Winslow was anticipating.
Instead, it was sneaker going one way and Zion Williamson the other, the Duke forward and presumptive NBA No. 1 draft pick fortunate to emerge with nothing worse than a minor, Grade 1 knee sprain in the wake of his early exit.
And yet, with that one moment in time, Winslow knew Williamson leaving the court was bigger than that single moment.
“Some stuff is going to change because of Zion,” Winslow said was his thought.
And, apparently, it already is, with the NBA and the league’s players association moving closer to dropping any type of college requirement for high school seniors, a move likely to come as soon as the 2022 draft.
For Winslow, the Duke experience was rewarding on both a championship level and the opportunity to lift his NBA draft stock. For Williamson, like LeBron James and other prep-topros success stories in earlier NBA times, the body, the game, the skills were NBA ready coming out of high school.
“I think guys should definitely have the right to make that decision,” Winslow said, with all due respect for what Mike Krzyzewski did for his career in that single 2014-15 season in Durham. “Guys should have the decision to come straight out of high school.”
For all the physicality of the NBA, this is not the NFL. Williamson already has an NBA physique, as certainly does LSU’s Naz Reid.
Having been part of the 2003 NBA draft when James made his successful prepsto-pros leap, Heat guard Dwyane Wade has long held that 18, or even younger, should be an NBA age of consent.
“I think guys should be able to come out, period,” he said in the wake of Williamson’s blowout. “I think a situation like that can occur at any time, can occur at practice, it can occur when you’re working out. It can occur anytime. So I don’t think that’s the biggest thing.
“I just think the rule should be that if a guy, if he’s good enough to come out at 18, at 17, he should be able to. Just like other sports and other things in the world, you’re able to go to the war early. So I feel like you should be able to, even forgetting things like injuries.”
Heat center Bam Adebayo, who came from humble roots and parlayed his lone season at Kentucky into his first-round Heat selection in 2017, said he continues to have mixed feelings on the issue, appreciative of his season under John Calipari.
“I had fun in my one year in college,” he said. “I mean it’s a good experience. It got me ready for the NBA.
“And I got better in my one year, and Zion is, too.”
Still, at the moment, and in the moment, Winslow said he appreciates how quickly it all can be taken away, even with an insurance policy in place to somewhat mitigate against NCAA injury.
“In the moment, I thought it was the shoe,” Winslow said. “And in the moment, I thought he was going to get right back up. But once I kind of saw him going off, I said, ‘Oh, man, this is going to be big for basketball.’ That’s when I thought stuff is going to change.
In the lane
Meaningful moment: Chris Bosh said he remains humbled by the Heat’s decision to retire his No. 1 jersey before the team’s March 26 game against the Orlando Magic at AmericanAirlines Arena. “It’s everything,” he said during an appearance on FSI’s Undisputed. “My grandfather was a huge family man. Had a big family. Now I have a big family, I feel I’m carrying on the torch for the Bosh name. And to be able to put the name, my family name, up in the stands with an organization, that’s so special to me.” Bosh’s Heat and NBA career was cut short by bouts of blood clots that first surfaced during the 2015 All-Star break.
Over there: His quirky NBA career including a chapter this season when he attempted to check in for the Los Angeles Lakers while wearing warmup shorts, former Heat 2008 first-round pick Michael Beasley has headed back to finish the season in China, his third stint there (as many as with the Heat). The agreement with Guangdong comes after Beasley previously played in China with Shanghai and Shandong. He was MVP of the Chinese Basketball Association All-Star Game in 2015, when he scored 59 points, and was league international MVP when he averaged 31.9 points in 2015-16.
And more: Caron Butler continues to build his post-playing resume. In addition to his sideline work with TNT, the former Heat first-round pick on Thursday was named to a three-year term on the board of directors of the National Basketball Retired Players Association. Among those Butler joins on the board are Spencer Haywood, Sam Perkins, Nancy Lieberman and Grant Hill. “The opportunity to work alongside Spencer Haywood and so many others that I looked up to throughout my basketball career is incredibly exciting for me,” Butler said.
At a loss: Philadelphia 76ers guard Jimmy Butler found Thursday’s game against the Heat particularly poignant in the wake of the ovation given to fellow Marquette product Dwyane Wade amid the Heat’s final visit of the season. “That’s my guy,” Butler said. “I’m sad to see him leave the game because I think he set the bar so high for so many different types of players. As long as he’s smiling, as long as he’s hooping, and as long as he’s happy, I’m good with it.”
Fiorentino, Haslem honors: Former Heat broadcaster Tony Fiorentino and Heat forward Udonis Haslem are among those who will be honored at the 13th annual “Call of The Game Dinner” on March 9 at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa. The event, hosted by Heat broadcaster Eric Reid and Fiorentino, is part of a multi-day fundraiser that also includes a celebrity golf outing March 11 at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa. Fiorentino will receive the Sonny Hirsch Excellence in Sports Broadcasting Award, with Haslem to be presented with the Don Shula Sports Legend Award. In addition, the Ted Arison Community Service Award will be presented to Luther Campbell. Details are available at reidandfiorentinoevents.com.
Big number
Current NBA player to reach 1,000 career points faster than 76ers center Boban Marjanovic, who reached that total in Wednesday’s victory over the Heat in his 1,574th career minute. Current 76ers teammate Joel Embiid had reached 1,000 points in 1,271 minutes earlier in his career. —Ira Winderman