In the lane
FINAL WORDS: So how did Chris Andersen’s final pregame locker-room confuse-a-thon go? Birdman’s interview went like this:
How much do you have left? “I’ve got probably about $12 left in my pocket because of Chik-fil-A. But I can go to the ATM at any time and withdraw a limit of $300.”
You’re 36, 37, played this season and 11 years ... “Man, you are terrible with numbers. I can withdraw from the ATM, $300. I don’t know where you get 36, 37 and 11 years.” How do you feel, though, physically, about how much you have left after this season?
“Physically? Physically, I’m great. I take PEDs.”
(Laughter) Where do you get ’em?
“I get ’em from Vitamin Shoppe.”
So the legal type?
“Oh, they’re legal.”
So they have two random drug tests ... “Absolutely. There’s nothing wrong with PEDs, man — protein enhancement drugs, that what that is.”
CLOSING TIME: An hour before the Indiana Pacers eliminated the Heat from NBA-playoff contention, the Heat’s D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, was eliminated from the NBA Development League Playoffs by the Canton Charge (yes, the affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers). Phil Weber, given the Skyforce assignment by the Heat before this season, exited angered by what he perceived as Canton big men James Singleton and Alex Kirk being allowed to camp in the lane without illegal-defense technical fouls being called. “When they allow Kirk and Singleton to just sit in the paint, I don’t know how you compete against that,” Weber told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. “I don’t know if I’ll get fined by the NBADL, but OK, come at me. But there’s no question. I don’t care what they send me or tell me. The rules are put in for a reason.”
DUAL DEMISE: The goal had been to have Weber and Skyforce assistant Chris Quinn return to work with the Heat during the NBA playoffs, as they did with the team during training camp. Instead, both seasons effectively ended the same day. Former Heat guard Andre Dawkins shot 1 of 9 in the decisive Game 3 of the best-of-three Canton series.
SCOUTING SEASON: The NBA’s scouting season quietly got underway a week ago with the seniors-only Portsmouth Invitational, an event that a year ago included eventual Heat additions Tyler Johnson and Andre Dawkins. Heat forward James Ennis participated there two years ago. Among those who participated in this year’s combine was Florida Gulf Coast guard Brett Comer, the lone representative from a state school. The field also included Notre Dame’s Pat Connaughton, Villanova’s Darrun Hilliard and Ohio State’s Amir Williams. The NBA’s Chicago pre-draft camp, the most significant evaluation gathering, is May 12-17.