Winslow wants more than numbers to do the talking
MIAMI — At 22, Justise Winslow has shown this season he can be a scoring leader, assists leader and rebounding leader for the Miami Heat.
And, still, one major leadership category remains.
Because for as much as they can offer in the locker room (Udonis Haslem) or on the court (Dwyane Wade), the team’s veteran leaders know those soon will be someone else’s responsibilities.
“Once it’s over for us, there has to be a leader, there has to be somebody that carries the culture and passes it on to the next generation,” Haslem said last week, as he all but acknowledged he will be joining Wade in retirement at season’s end. “And these guys are working right now. As much as me and Dwyane would like, right now there’s really not anybody that’s fully grasped what we would like to pass on like guys passed it on to us.
“So we’re trying to fast track that. And it’s something for me, when I walk away from this organization and the basketball side of things, I would like it to be in good hands and I would like to see the culture and the tradition to carry on in the right way.”
Haslem already has a particular successor in mind.
“I love what Justise is doing. I love the edge that he plays with,” he said. “If I could pick somebody, I would love for it to be Justise.”
For all he has achieved this season, leading the Heat in scoring five times, including Saturday’s 26 points in the victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, as well as leading the Heat in assists a team-best 11 times and in rebounding three times through these first 41 games, it is the challenge offered by Haslem that Winslow particularly embraces.
“That’s an amazing compliment to get from a guy like that, a three-time champion, someone that’s been a leader for this city and this team,” Winslow said. “I’ve been able to take a lot of things from him, his leadership skills, the way he handles himself on and off the court, so that’s just high praise from a highcaliber person.
“Just moving forward, just trying to learn from him and all the guys, that’s something that’s always been a goal of mine, is just to be a leader of a championship organization. That’s what the Miami Heat are.”
Fast track: To put Winslow’s growth into perspective, consider that his 26 points in Saturday’s 112-108 victory was his seventh 20-point game of the season. He had just two such games in his previous three NBA seasons.
“He puts in a great deal of time on his game,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I have him playing at a new position right now and he is learning it and gobbling up all the information night to night. He is striking that balance of getting us organized and learning when to be aggressive.”
Playing more in attack mode than some of his previous games as the replacement point guard for sidelined Goran Dragic, Winslow shot 10 of 16 against the Grizzlies, including 4 of 4 on 3-pointers.
“The hardest thing for the average fan to understand is that the stat line might look a little bit different each game,” Spoelstra said. “He had 26 points and seven rebounds [Saturday], but in the next game what might be required is 10 or 12 assists. It never hurts when guys can have that kind of efficient game, 10 for 16.”
Veteran benefit: Though the stats showed two points on 1-of-3 shooting in Saturday’s fourth quarter for Wade, his coach and a teammate said closing time has been significantly eased by the presence of the franchise’s all-time scoring leader.
“It is hard to explain,” Spoelstra said. “There is no analytic for it. Your team just has a great sense of confidence when you have a Hall of Famer on the court.”
Said Josh Richardson, “It just adds layers to his Hall of Fame career. It’s good for us to be able to watch and learn from it.”