For those well-versed in NBA lore, nothing is more mythical than the famous culture of the Miami Heat. It’s the ingrained habits of those who come into the Heat organization that seem to make the roster add up to more than the sum of its parts. Even veterans who haven’t spent much time absorbing the Heat’s spirit, like Andre Iguodala (who spent a total of 1.5 seasons with the Heat), know how magical the aura surrounding this team is— — even citing Michael Jordan’s name in the process.
Iguodala, a four-time champion with the Golden State Warriors and a key figure in the Heat’s run to the 2020 NBA Finals, spoke on JJ Redick’s The Old Man and the Three Podcast and explained how Jordan How to essentially be the founding father of Heat culture and stuff like that.
“Then MJ should go into his different world, and that’s the great thing about MJ. (…) I think when we see what MJ does, we don’t understand what we’re seeing. He’s there The most competitive player. Like, he had the Heat culture before the Heat culture even existed,” Iguodala said.
Considering Michael Jordan’s hard work, drive and hyper-competition in his prime, it’s no surprise to see arguably the greatest basketball player of all time pop up in discussions about Heat culture. Jordan made no concessions to his objections. He worked on his game day and night and it paid off hugely, winning six championships during his storied career.
In recent times, however, the Heat culture has become synonymous with developing unheralded talent, taking overlooked players from undrafted free agents and turning them into meaningful contributors. But essentially, this is only possible through the culture of hard work that the organization has instilled over the years. In that sense, the former Warriors champion was right to say it — especially when the Heat themselves validated Jordan’s Hall of Fame career by retiring his jersey despite not playing a single minute for the team.