It's a 2021 Summer League game, and the Miami Heat are coming out of the huddle, led by a largely unknown undrafted free agent by the name of Max Strus.
Strus, entering his third year in the NBA at the time, had started his career with Boston, playing only four games before being waived. Miami was actually his third team, as he spent about a year with the Bulls, becoming a free agent following the 2020 season.
"What do y'all see over there that I see?"
It was then that Miami took a flier on the shooter from DePaul, signing him following their shocking Bubble run that saw them scratch and claw their way to the NBA Finals, where they lost to former number one overall picks LeBron James' and Anthony Davis' Lakers in six games.
"I see every one of them was drafted. Ain't none of us were."
Miami seemed to something nobody else did in Strus, who was becoming a contributor in Miami in 2021. He only played 13 minutes per game, but broke 20 points twice, and showed flashes of being something the 60 picks of the 2019 NBA Draft didn't see: a playable asset.
"Be dogs. Be Hungry"
Now back to Summer League. Only a few days prior, Strus had just turned his two-way gamble into a long-term deal in Miami, but still has something to prove. He has been the Heat's star throughout this August, on a team made up of leftovers and players the rest of the league disregarded.
And he knows it.
As Miami huddles up, Strus delivers a speech, letting the rest of the team, a rest of which don't have a brand new contract, that he still knows where he, as well as the entire lineup, came from. The underdog mentality hasn't left Strus, and he's taken a leadership role in a Summer game before his third season as an opportunity to let everyone know.
"Show these people why we should have been drafted"
Strus did just that over his next two seasons, cementing his spot on a contending Heat roster, and in the present day, has found himself starting on an Eastern Conference Team that sits on a series lead over the Boston Celtics.
No matter the situation, however, that underdog mentality still remains, and for good reason. The lineup is riddled with players who, at some point or another, have been cast off by another organization.
Underdogs Everywhere
Caleb Martin, who put on a stellar 25 point performance in game two, was undrafted in the same year as Strus. He bounced back and forth between the Hornets and their G-league affiliate in 2019 and 2020, and was unable to find consistent playing time until that fateful 2021-2022 season. Now, he sits as one of the first men off the bench on a Conference Finals team where the starting lineup is of a similar mold.
Gabe Vincent, currently the starting point guard, went undrafted in 2018, and was without a team for over a year until Miami gave him a two-way deal in 2020. Now, he's in his fourth season in Miami, and when it came time to make a decision on the playoff starters, coach Erik Spoelstra chose Vincent over the more accomplished Kyle Lowry.
Kevin Love is also a starter for this Heat team, and while he was a top five pick in 2008, it's his recent success, or lack thereof, that had made him a casualty in Cleveland. Miami snagged Love earlier this season off of the buyout market, and while he isn't the same player he was years ago, he has been a steady veteran presence with a knack for making smart plays and hitting much needed threes.
Bam Adebayo is his front court partner, and although he has been of high regard in Miami for years, he doesn't forget his own setbacks. Namely, his 2019 snub from Team USA's roster. Adebayo has posted highlights from the camp prior to him being cut with the caption "I Wasn’t Ready Though...". He took that as motivation, and has had the four best seasons of his career since.
This Team is Different
The final two starters are the aforementioned Max Strus, and Miami's fearless leader, Jimmy Butler, who embodies this mentality Miami calls "Heat Culture" more than anyone else. Butler was homeless for much of a young life, and even after battling his way into the NBA, he couldn't seem to find a long-term home. Chicago, Minnesota, and Philly, all saw significant success with Butler leading the charge, but when it came time to choose between him or their other stars, who he often feuded with, he was the odd man out.
That was, of course, until he got to Miami. In his first year, the Heat battled through the tough conditions of COVID and the Orlando Bubble and made the NBA Finals, and while there have been bumps in the road, Butler and company have kept moving forward.
That's the difference between the Miami Heat and the rest of the league. They like getting punched in the face. It's simply another day at the office for a team who has heard their entire lives that they aren't enough. This Boston series, and 2023 playoffs as a whole, make up the same story.
Miami has been knocked down over and over again, with injuries to major contributors, or major runs by opponents, and they have taken it flush to the jaw and punched right back.
Don't Poke the Bear
One of the biggest punches of this playoffs came last night. Boston is pulling away in the fourth, and while Miami's zone defense attempts to fly around to the ball, Grant Williams finds himself wide open beyond the arc.
Williams, who didn't play in game one, seemed to be Boston's answer to Jimmy Butler, who, to this point, had looked exhausted on the court.
He took and made the three, which brought the lead to 9 points late in the fourth, but it was what happened after that woke up the sleeping giant.
Williams decided to talk a little too much coming back down the court, getting involved with Jimmy Butler.
Butler went on to drive down, hit a layup with contact, securing the and-one and giving Butler the perfect response. He got back in the face of Williams, and proceeded to turn the tide for Miami.
From that moment on, the Heat went on a 22-9 run, where Butler scored seven and forced Boston to take Williams out in crunch time, resulting in a 111-105 win and a 2-0 series lead against the number one seed in the Eastern Conference.
Miami now sits two wins away from being the second eighth seed to ever advance to the NBA Finals, going on an unprecedented run in the modern NBA, with every win being more shocking than the last.
Stats and film study will show that Miami has outplayed these teams that they were considered outclassed by prior to the playoffs, but it's the underdog mentality, the "Heat Culture", that has gotten Miami this far, and will continue to lead them throughout their run.
Whenever Miami gets hit with a punch that looks to knock them out, remember that this team, from top to bottom, has been intricately designed to take them. They enjoy it, relishing in their ability to keep moving along and clawing their way back, which has and will continue to give them a punchers chance against anyone.
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