Rash Of Injuries Among Issues Miami Heat Hope To Address In Offseason

Team president Pat Riley says he wishes the team could have been healthier this season

All season long the Miami Heat refused to complain about injuries. 

Earlier this week, team president Pat Riley said it did take a toll on them. 

“Whether it’s a hamstring or a groin or a calf, guys are sitting out, missing time,” Riley said. “It was untimely for us to have some of those at a time when you wanted everybody healthy." 

During the season, the Heat played without Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry for extended periods. Lowry and Herro were also sidelined in the postseason because of hamstring and groin injuries.

He compared it to when Goran Dragic and Adebayo sustained injuries during their run to the NBA Finals in 2020. The Heat lost in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers.  

“You have to be a little bit concerned about the injuries when you have injuries that derail your opportunity," Riley said. "When you have injuries that derail your opportunity. We had that in the bubble. It was a direct hit to Bam. That wasn’t an injury of attrition, it was a direct hit to his arm and his shoulder. And then Goran got hurt. That hurt us." 

Riley refused to blame the injuries on age. The Heat are one of the league's oldest teams with an average age of 27. 

"As far as the age of the roster, I think our roster is almost perfect from a real veteran age standpoint where players can play and can contribute," Riley said. "You have the middle group of guys that are starting to rise up, and then we got some young guys.”

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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