Miami Big Three miss practice session ahead of game against Atlanta
On Monday, Miami Heat owner Micky Arison attended his team's practice session. To his surprise three players, all of whom are receiving a paycheck in excess of $100 million, were on the sidelines with him.
Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh all skipped the session with various injuries, further undermining a team currently in the middle of a three-game losing streak.
After a marathon five-game road trip, the Miami Heat find themselves mired in a 2-3 record. However for now, losses seem to be last on Miami’s priority list. The real headache for the Heat management at the moment is how to get their three superstars up
and running.
LeBron James and Chris Bosh are both suffering from ankle sprains, while Dwyane Wade - sidelined for practice on his 29th birthday – is nursing a sore left knee, which he suffered during a collision with Jason Kidd in Saturday night’s showdown against the
Chicago Bulls.
Wade though doesn’t seem to be too perturbed by the whole losses and injury scenario. He also hinted that he is absolutely fit and rearing to continue.
"Heat history," Wade chuckled. "There goes some history for you guys. We all missed practice together."
James on the other hand, after helplessly watching his team lose from the sidelines, wants to make an impact on the court on Tuesday against the Atlanta Hawks.
"We're dealing with a little adversity," James said. "We knew it was going to be a tough, probably the toughest, road trip of the season with that many time zones we were going through and the times that we were getting into hotel rooms late at night. We
knew it was going to be tough. Did we want to go 5-0? Of course. But we played some good basketball, could have played better at times, but the confidence and the mood hasn't changed."
For the moment, Chris Bosh seems to the only cog of the Big Three troika, who is not inclined to grasp the court in the next match. Bosh suffered the ankle sprain in the dying seconds of an intensely physical game against the Chicago Bulls. In an all-out
scramble for the ball, Bull’s reserve centre Omer Asik injured him as he fell on his legs.
After the game, Bosh was furious about the how Asik had injured him recklessly.
"You've got to watch people's legs," He said. "I know guys want to hustle and everything but we all want to play and provide for our families and have a job."
However, the Miami Heat dodged a major bullet when a later MRI revealed that the dazzling forward had only suffered a mild sprain in his ankle.
"Definitely a relief," James said about Bosh.
Nevertheless, Miami lost much more than they gained in an exhausting road trip that lasted 10 days. Starting the trip with an aim to surpass the great Los Angeles Lakers team of 1971 that pulled off 16 straight victories, the Heat managed to win only their
first two games and that too in overtime. Miami’s woes were further aggravated as they not only gave away the top spot in the Eastern Conference to the Boston Celtics, but also lost two of their three best players to ankle injuries - leaving the Heat a bit
drained.
However after a hectic spurt, the odd NBA schedule is finally giving them some relief.
"It's bizarre," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "The last road trip was a little bit abnormal as well, crisscrossing the states. Everybody has two or three times during the year where your schedule is a little bit off. You're used to playing in the NBA rhythm
of every 48 hours and playing your back-to-backs, and I think that's when we find our best. But right now, this probably comes at a decent time for us."
Starting from Sunday, Miami will play only two home games in 10 days and will hit the road next on 27 January, when they head to New York to take on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
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