Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra told Miami Heat starter to lose weight ahead of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s arrival
Giannis will have several new teammates this upcoming season, including one who may be in better shape than last season.
It’s a new era for the Miami Heat . After a string of decent but uninspiring seasons, after reaching the NBA Finals in two out of four years, president Pat Riley , general manager Andy Elisburg , and head coach Erik Spoelstra felt the franchise needed a face lift.
That came in the form of acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo , letting go of Tyler Herro , Jaime Jaquez Jr ., Kel'el Ware , and more in the process. While giving up those key players means the Heat won’t have as much depth as they would like, the starting five around Giannis is still solid.
Bam Adebayo is still there, as is Andrew Wiggins. Klay Thompson was signed to man the shooting guard position, while Davion Mitchell will reprise his role as the team’s starting point guard. Mitchell may be considered by casual fans to be the weak point of the starting lineup, but he may look much different this upcoming season - and that’s due to Riley and Spoelstra.
Davion Mitchell was asked to lose weight by Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra
While appearing on the Deuce & Mo podcast, Mitchell revealed that his exit interview at the end of last season included the president and head coach of the Heat asking him to lose weight and stay in shape .
“ Pat and Spo didn’t say anything about basketball at the end of the year, when you have your exit meeting, there was no basketball talk. It was ‘get your weight down. Be in shape. That’s all we want.’ This is Heat culture to the T… We understand the situation but this year, we’ve got to get you back down .”
Mitchell said he failed the Heat’s conditioning test last season, which he claims is “ one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life ”. Spoelstra is known to run a very tight ship, especially when it comes to conditioning. Now Giannis’ primary ball-handling teammates, it’s a huge year for Mitchell.
