Miami Heat's Avery Bradley and Moe Harkless Ready For Return After Long Layoff

Miami Heat newcomers Avery Bradley and Moe Harkless haven't played since March

The majority of the Miami Heat players are concerned with returning to the court too soon.

For Avery Bradley and Moe Harkless, it’s more about returning after a long layoff.

While the Heat had a little more than a month off after making the NBA Finals, Bradley and Harkless haven’t played since March when the NBA season was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I haven’t been able to play in a real NBA game since March, yeah, so it’s kind of impossible to simulate that game speed, game shape,” Harkless said. “So I thought I was in shape until those preseason games, but I realized I was a little bit behind where I thought I was at.”

Bradley and Harkless are among the new additions for the Heat, who open the season Wednesday at the Orlando Magic. They are still searching for their fit within the organization. Bradley spent last season with the Los Angeles Lakers but refused to play in the bubble in Orlando for health precautions. Harkless split time with the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers.

“It’s different,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Not only because it’s been 9 1/2 months since they played in an NBA game, but we’re also coming off a situation where we played almost 100 days of doing something every single day at the highest level of competition and rhythm and conditioning.”

Still, Spoelstra expects both to become early contributors.

“So even though our guys had to take a few days to get back into the basketball swing of things, everything else was already fast tracked,” Spoelstra said. “The good thing about it is that both are in really good shape. Just in terms of fitness, they’re both real pros. You can tell that they’ve done a bunch of work. That’s just not the same as competitive five on five and certainly not game condition.” 

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