A lot of NBA superstars require special attention and treatment but the Miami Heat are different.
LeBron James learned when he joined the Heat in 2010 it was a different experience playing in Miami, especially under team president Pat Riley. Former Heat assistant David Fizdale recently told a story on the Knuckleheads podcast of how James had to adapt to what is now known as "Heat Culture.
James, who rightfully deserves special treatment, had to change the way he carried himself and how he did certain things. One instance was when he was denied taking his friends into the Heat’s locker room.
"LeBron had to hear the truth," said Fizdale, who is now the assistant general manager with the Utah Jazz. "He had to conform to the Heat way, we couldn't be his way. It was really important that he had that's always been for him. Even though we lost that first year, it was little stuff that would take place that was really cruel. I remember LeBron was hot about something that was counter to our culture. I don't know if he was with some guys he wanted to come into our locker room. I forgot what it was, and you know, we didn't let nobody in the building, it was something like that. And I just remember walking to the locker room, and LeBron was talking to a couple of guys in the locker room. It was UD [Udonis Haslem] and D-Wade. And both of them, as I was through, both go, 'Nah, we don't do it like that here. This is our space. If you wanna hang out with them, you do it over there. But this is how we do it here, and when we come here, this is just for us.'"
Obviously, James adapted smoothly. He went on to deliver the Heat back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013.
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Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson
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