Getty Duncan Robinson #55 of the Miami Heat celebrates with Jimmy Butler #22 during the second half in Game One of the Eastern Conference
Duncan Robinson is one of many examples of the Miami Heat finding a diamond in the rough. The forward quickly found himself entering the Heat’s rotation and impressed enough to earn a 5-year $90 million deal with the Heat. However, in the season after Robinson signed that contract he found himself slipping out of Miami’s starting rotation and not getting playoff minutes.
Despite a down year for Robinson, the sharpshooting forward recently sounded off about his offseason, and steps he took for improvement as shared by Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
Duncan Robinson on His Offseason
The Heat forward spoke to Chiang about spending his time off in self-reflection, where he gained perspective and also sought the true opinion of others.
“Just try to take a step back and maintain some perspective,” Robinson said to the Miami Herald earlier this offseason at an event to promote SIQ Basketball, maker of the first FIBA-approved smart basketball. “I think that time initially after the season, it’s important to take a step back and reflect and not get emotional or reactionary to whatever. Be able to remove yourself a little bit and just look at it from a very objective standpoint of what needs to happen moving forward. I feel like I’m capable of doing that, but I also have people in my corner that can really help me with that because that’s a huge part of it. Sitting and having real honest conversations with people and getting real honest feedback.”
Robinson mentioned how the time away and honest feedback has helped him continue to develop into a better person and player.
“It’s been great just to be able to take a little step back, try to gain some perspective over last year and kind of where I’m at, and how to strategically move forward and develop,” Robinson said of this offseason. “Yeah, just super locked in and focused on just trying to improve in specific areas and just continuing to develop as a player. Understanding, first and foremost, this time is all about self-improvement and just getting better. Excited to have this kind of an elongated stretch of time where you can really just be strategic about investing time and energy in all the right places.”
Duncan on Heat’s Motivation for Next Season
After being eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat are running it back with largely the same core as last year. Not only is Robinson motivated personally, but he also talked about how he feels the Heat as a team are using the loss to fuel them into this upcoming season.
“I think how last season ended [with a loss in Game 7 of the East finals],” Robinson said, “I think obviously the motivation for everybody across the board is super high.”
Miami’s season kicks off on Monday at FTX Arena for the team’s media day before opening training camp on Tuesday in the Bahamas. Following that, the preseason and NBA regular season is rapidly approaching, and the Heat hope to remain in title contention.