The Tribune

FOR the third time in the past decade, the Miami Heat will make the Bahamas a part of their training camp.

Over the weekend, the Heat revealed that their 2022 Training Camp, presented by Baptist Health, will be staged at Baha Mar from September 27 to October 1.

The Heat announced that following their Media Day on Monday, September 26 at the FTX Arena, the Heat will conduct their two-day practice sessions from Tuesday to Thursday at Baha Mar, the award-winning luxury resort’s Convention, Arts and Entertainment Centre.

Following the training sessions, the Heat will host a practice session opened to invited guests and kids from the Bahamas Basketball Federation before they return to Miami on Saturday. The Heat previously hosted their training camps here at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in 2013 and again in 2016. The Heat said it had intended to come back, but because of the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, they stayed in Florida for their camps either at FTX Arena or in Palm Beach County.

Heat’s head coach Erik Spoelstra said the last time they came in the Bahamas certainly benefitted the Heat and his players.

“We spent so much time together and really tried to get to know each other,” he said. “We spent a lot of time on the court but we spent a lot of time off the court. That’s why I love going away. It gives you a little bit of a start on that.”

The Heat, led by the 1-2-3 punch of Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Victor Oladipo, are coming off a 53-29 win-loss record to win the Eastern Conference.

After defeating the Atlanta Hawks 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs and earning a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round, only to get eliminated in a 4-3 decision to the Boston Celtics in the divisional finals.

Following the training camp here, the Heat will participate in their pre-season from Monday, October 3 to Wednesday, October 12 before their regular season starts at home against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, October 19.