Why has the Miami Heat’s Dewayne Dedmon been suspended and what will the team do now?
Already fighting for a spot among the team’s starters, the center has definintely done himself no favors by fighting with his own coaching staff.
Though many sang the praises of the Miami Heat following their record-breaking performance against the Thunder, there was one black spot on what was otherwise a truly memorable night.
Heat’s Dewayne Dedmon suspended after ejection
According to a team announcement on Wednesday, Miami Heat center Dewayne Dedmon has been suspended for one game, following his ejection from Tuesday night’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Indeed, though the focus was entirely on the Heat’s performance which saw both the team and forward Jimmy Butler make NBA history, there was a rather bizarre moment during the second quarter in which Dedmond got into a fight with his own team and then later threw a massage gun on to the court, which in turn led to his ejection.
You read that right. The moment occurred as Gabe Vincent was bringing the ball up the floor for the Heat, at which point the referee brought play to halt because of an object which suddenly flew onto the court. Upon closer inspection, it was seen to be the aforementioned massage gun. Visibly unsettled, Dedmond could be seen in a heated discussion with his own coaching staff and at that point, he was tossed from the game. To be clear, there has been no further insight into what exactly Dedmon’s problem was, however, prior to the timeout he could be seen playing somewhat lack luster defense as the Thunder’s Kenrich Williams drove to the hoop.
Has Dewayne Dedmon been building up to this moment?
Speaking after the game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spoke to the idea that it’s simply a matter of managing personalities. “It’s the Miami Heat. We’re all a bunch of gnarly personalities,” head Spoelstra said. “That part was unfortunate. Everything before that, that’s the Miami Heat. That part was unacceptable.”
Where Dedmon is concerned, it’s worth noting that the past few months have seen the big man spend very little time on the court. Now in his third season in Miami, he’s yet to start a game and has averaged a meagre 11.9 minutes, which in case you’re wondering is the lowest of his career. Indeed, one has to imagine that while his outburst was in the words of Spoelstra, ‘unacceptable,’ the fact that Bam Adebayo was out on Tuesday and still he couldn’t get more time, would likely have been a lot to take. To compound the matter, Dedmon would have seen Orlando Robinson included among the starters while he sat on the sideline. This is not to say there is an ‘I’ in team, but one can empathize.
This doesn’t help the Miami Heat’s situation
Ultimately, the more important thing to consider here is the Heat’s record of 22-20. At the moment, Miami sits outside the top-six in the Eastern Conference and despite their sensational performance against the Thunder, that doesn’t look likely to change in the near future. With that said, the Heat are going to have to start thinking about reinforcements ahead of the trade deadline. Even before his apparent mutiny, one has to imagine that Dedmon would have been on the ‘to be moved on’ list. After it, that’s all but assured.