Inside The Heat

Ex-Miami Heat Player's Big Game In New Uniform Riles Up Fan Base

Shandel Richardson

Jan 8, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers center Thomas Bryant (3) celebrates basket in the first half against the Chicago Bulls at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Jan 8, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers center Thomas Bryant (3) celebrates basket in the first half against the Chicago Bulls at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
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A former Miami Heat player had the Internet buzzing Wednesday night.

Thomas, who was traded to the Indiana Pacers last month, had his first big game in a new uniform. He had 22 points and eight rebounds as a starter in a victory against the Chicago Bulls.


"I just love how literally the whole team just embraced me and just brought me in," Bryant said. "I really felt the love right then and there. Like I said when I first came here, I want to try and help this team and boost them to another level as much as I can. I don't want to be detrimental at all."

It was arguably Bryant's best game in the last three years. It was also more than he produced when he was with the Heat.

Heat fans were quick to take notice. One social media user posted, "I knew Thomas Bryant wasn't the problem." Another wrote, "So Thomas Bryant leaves Miami and learns how to play basketball again?"

This is likely an overreaction from the Heat fans. Who knows if Bryant would have duplicated similar success in Miami. Who knows if he has another game like this for the Pacers this season.

The reaction is the fan base once again showing frustration about how the season is going. The Heat are a middle-of-the-pack team in the Eastern Conference for a third straight year while using the same core group of players.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here