Former Miami Heat guard Gabe Vincent recently recalled how Udonis Haslem taunted the Heat and threw a chair into the bubble in Orlando, Florida.
When asked what his favorite Heat culture story is, Vincent told Sportskeeda, “There are so many.
” “Culturally, it’s even more difficult.
One of the stories that stands out, I don’t know if it’s my favorite, is that in the bubble, the U.S.
insulted the whole team and threw chairs at them.
Was funny.
That was interesting!
It’s funny looking back, but it all summed up.
You can hold your brother accountable, you can be honest, you can speak up, knowing that we have this common goal in mind.
Get directly to the root of the problem, find a solution and move on.
It was fine there.
We can experience an explosion and know that it is not personal.
We can use that to move forward.
“As far as I can remember, we didn’t play hard,” he said.
“At the time, I was a two-way player.
I haven’t necessarily played this game.
But our overall energy and effort wasn’t where it should have been.
Spo (Erik Spoelstra) I think I said a few things here and there.
However, for some reason it did not completely take root in the group.
I couldn’t tell if I was just tired or exhausted.
There are many issues that arise during the NBA season, especially during the bubble.
Not everyone always has a good day.
Sometimes you need to light a fire under yourself.
U.D.
did this.
He made great reads in the locker room and created that space.
This is a credit to his U.D.
And his leadership and ability to sense when more is needed.
Vincent went undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft following a four-season stint playing college basketball at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He averaged 10-plus points and two-plus assists in each of his four seasons as a member of the team.
Arguably Vincent’s best season of college basketball came during his junior season, the 2016-17 season. The guard averaged 14.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in 20 games played with UC Santa Barbara as a junior (18 starts).
Vincent has played four seasons in the NBA, all as a member of the storied Heat franchise. He averaged 9.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game across 68 appearances with the Heat during the 2022-23 regular season. The 27-year-old didn’t shoot the ball with great accuracy from the field, though, seeing as how he converted 40.2 percent of his field-goal attempts and 33.4 percent of his three-point attempts.
Vincent elevated his level of play during the 2023 playoffs and became a valuable part of a Heat team that reached the NBA Finals a season ago.
His best playoff series was in the Eastern Conference Finals against Eason Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the Boston Celtics.
He averaged 15.
8 points per game in the series, shooting 48.
5 percent from the field and 51.
6 percent from 3-point range.
The guard also played solid basketball in Miami’s first-round series against Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and the Milwaukee Bucks.
He averaged 13.
0 points per game in the series and shot 42.
4 percent from 3-point range.
Vincent had a great overall performance in the playoffs, but he wasn’t perfect.
After all, he struggled to shoot the ball effectively in the NBA Finals against Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets.
During the Championship Series, he made 38.
2 percent of his field goal attempts and 33.
3 percent of his 3-point shots.
Here’s to hoping that Vincent will serve as an effective point guard for the storied Lakers franchise during the 2023-24 regular season and beyond.
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