Some Heat players cried in the locker room after the loss Sunday. So what?
The reaction from many around the league has been “I’ve been there.” Well, not in the Knicks locker room, they thought it was way funnier than anything Dane Cook ever said. But others took more muted tone.
Even Stan Van Gundy, who likes to smack around the Heat more than the next guy, kind of shrugged at that one, according to the Orlando Sentinel.“We all have, but it’s not something I would comment on and tell you who or when or anything else,” Van Gundy said Monday. “But yeah, I think we’ve all had that. Usually playoff-type situations… Probably the only time I’ve seen it are in the games that sort of end your year in the playoffs. But yeah, I’ve seen it….
“I don’t care whether a guy cries or not,” Van Gundy said. “I don’t see what difference it makes. But I don’t have to fill three hours of a sports talk show. Those guys need something to talk about. Mike and Mike in the morning, I don’t know, how long are they on? Three or four hours? I guess there aren’t enough games to just talk about the games, so you gotta figure out who was crying in the locker room. I’m just glad that’s not my job – trying to figure out who was crying.”
Over at Hoopshype (via the Heat Index), baller and blogger Rod Benson wrote that he has cried after a game.
After an injury-riddled season that, at least in my mind, ruined my immediate chances of making the NBA, I had made my way back in time for the NCAA tournament. After battling with North Carolina State for most of the game, as always, it came down to the final minute. Unlike high school, I remember very clearly what happened. Somebody messed up on a switch and I had to run out at Cameron Bennerman, who pump faked the hell out of me, composed himself, and knocked in the game-winning three.
On the way back to the locker room, I broke down and started crying. At first, it was because I knew that if I had closed out short, he may have had a more difficult shot. I placed the blame on myself for losing the most important game of my college career and tears began to fall. I kind of felt stupid for crying, but I couldn’t help it.
When I sat down in the locker room, that’s when it really hit me. I actually sat there and cried for like 15 minutes straight.
Then Benson ties it back into the Heat.
I tend to side with Van Gundy here (and I’m not planning on making a habit out of that), the crying is one thing, telling the media is another. Spoelstra should have known that would basically take over a NBA news cycle and likely not sit well in the locker room. It has people discussing if the Heat are soft, and that is one touchy subject around players. This was a mistake of player management.
But the fact they care enough to cry, that’s a sign that at some point they will figure it all out.
