Thirty games into the 2025-26 season, the Miami Heat lay claim to a 15-15 record. If their current pace holds, it will mark the fourth straight season that Miami will be beginning its postseason in the NBA’s Play-In Tournament.
Suffice it to say, the Heat’s “Big Three” era of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh now seems like a distant memory. Austin Rivers, however, doesn’t understand why it has to be this way and, specifically, why Miami doesn’t remain one of the NBA’s premier destinations for star free agents.
“Some of these cities I don’t understand how no players ever get there. Don’t get me started on Miami. The fact their free agency market and how they just don’t get anybody just blows my mind. I don’t understand the Miami thing for the life of me,” Rivers said on last week’s episode of his Off Guard with Austin Rivers podcast. “What the f*ck are y’all doing? Why don’t y’all have seven stars there? I don’t understand. Who doesn’t want to live and play in Miami?”
After co-host Pausha Haghighi questioned whether the demanding nature of Heat Culture was to blame, Rivers replied, “Of course!”
“You hear Norman Powell the other day? ‘Body fat Friday!'” the Peacock analyst continued. “Nobody wants to deal with that sh*t.”
Rivers also noted that Powell is having a great debut season in Miami, so perhaps something to the Heat’s hardnosed approach.
As for why Miami is seemingly no longer a top tier free agent destination, it’s worth noting that the Heat — who have refused to tank — rarely possess the adequate cap space to recruit the rare star free agent who does become available. And that has typically left Miami to primarily build its team through the draft and trades, the latter of which brings a variety of external factors into play, as was seen during the Heat’s failed pursuit of Damian Lillard in 2023.
That’s not to say that Miami hasn’t swung and missed on its fair share of stars, as there are no shortage of high profile players — Lillard, Kevin Durant, Donovan Mitchell and James Harden to name a few — that the Heat have been linked to in recent years but have failed to acquire. But while the circumstances may not be as cut and dry as Rivers suggested, he’s not wrong in stating that Miami’s lack of star power has remained one of the NBA’s greatest mysteries in recent years.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.