F Beasley still part of Miami Heat family, trying to earn trust on roster
Michael Beasley hasn't earned a championship ring, but he's been in the Miami Heat locker room with many of these ring-bearing men before.
Beasley's path has been decidedly different that the others. The 24-year-old was waived by the Phoenix Suns in September after a career-worst season and an arrest earlier in the summer for marijuana possession.
Sunday was Beasley's first time at practice as a member of the Heat's 15-man roster. Saturday's waiver announcement of Justin Hamilton and Eric Griffin meant he made the cut.
He was asked by reporters if his priority entering camp on the one-year non-guaranteed contract was to earn the trust of the other 14 men, writes Tim Reynolds of AP.
"Was? No. Still is," Beasley said. "Getting the trust of my teammates and the trust of my coach, that's really the only thing that matters. The looks in their face when I do something wrong, it feels weird enough. I want to get to the point where me doing something is not so exciting anymore."
Reynolds notes Beasley's locker is the same one he had during his first tenure with Miami, from 2008-10. It's right beside Udonis Haslem, who took Beasley under his wing when he arrived in South Beach as a teenager.
Beasley attended Haslem's mother's funeral in 2010, weeks after he'd been traded to Minnesota.
"When I came to Miami, I was 19, didn't know anything, didn't know anybody," he said. "Udonis just brought me in. His mother was like my mother. My mother was like his mother. So when that happened, that was me showing respect."
Writes Reynolds:
Many around the franchise remembered that quiet gesture as the ultimate sign of respect. And Beasley said that when he came back to Miami on this deal, he was touched that people like Spoelstra, Wade and Haslem still thought of him as members of the Heat family.
The young, oft-troubled player will have a lot to live up to both on and off the court. Dwyane Wade says there's "no question" Beasley can make the Heat better. Haslem echoed the sentiment, and hopes the new addition can work his way onto the floor.
"We know he can score the ball," Haslem said. "He's not going to have a problem scoring the ball. He's going to be a matchup problem at (power forward) for anybody. Our thing is, we have a defensive system and when the going gets tough, Coach Spo looks for toughness. He's going to have to do those things if he wants to be on the floor for us."