Isiah Thomas to Miami Heat: Enjoy the Hate

Zeke has known hatred throughout his life in basketball rather intimately, and advises the dudes down in South Beach to embrace it. From 790 the Ticket (via SRI): “On being the bad guy in other arenas: ‘As a competitor and as an athlete it’s probably the most exhilarating feeling that you have outside of playing in the Finals. When the building is charged like that, the city comes to a stop, and you’re the hated team that’s coming in and it’s your job to make everybody unhappy in that building, it’s a great feeling and a great challenge when you can accomplish that. The electricity that this team will provide throughout the year in every city they go to, it’s something they will remember for the rest of their lives.’ On the Heat being hated: ‘Hate is not a bad thing in sports. You need the good guy and the bad guy and not everyone can be the good guy. When you have the good guy matched up against the bad guy, that’s what we all want to see. We don’t want to see two good guys go at it. We want to see the adversaries and the rivalries. Right now I think it’s great for the NBA and it will be great for all these guys in their careers as time moves on that having a little hate and being a little despised that’s not bad all the time. That means that you’re pretty good, you’re touching people’s emotions, a little controversial, and you’re being talked about. That’s what sports is all about. It’s not about the good guy all the time. If they’re chosen as the bad guys that means they’re going to be on television a lot, they’re going to be written about a lot, and they’re going to win a lot of games.'”