MIAMI — As the Miami Heat locker room opened for the first pregame media session of the 2016-17 NBA preseason, the biggest presence was an absence.
Two of them, actually.
The circular room was almost silent, a stark contrast from the raucous scene it often has been. All 19 players on the active roster set up camp elsewhere as reporters scrolled through social media and held recorders that had nothing to record. There was the sight of Dwyane Wade's longtime locker now occupied by journeyman point guard Beno Udrih. A few spots down, Chris Bosh's nameplate hung above the sanctuary's only empty locker.
They were jarring images, even though everyone in the room knew they had been coming. For anyone still coming to grips with the end of the Big Three era, the renovations showcased the severed ties.
"That team is something that we'll always remember, but we move on," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "There's a lot of change in this business. It's inherent. But the change happens slower with the Miami Heat."
Change is here now, and it's accompanied by an ide ...
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Article written by Zach Buckley