As Nikola Jovic laments Heat struggles, Erik Spoelstra says enough with the ‘victim mindset’

“Duncan is someone who already told me about this and went through similar stuff,” Jovic said of his Heat teammate of three years and now shooting star with the Detroit Pistons. “At one point you feel like you’re good enough for the team to help and then all of a sudden you’re at the end of the bench and you feel like you’re never going to see the floor again. It’s all ups and downs.

“It’s just the way the Heat is, I guess. ” As is the NBA way is for those unable to provide consistency, which also had been an issue for Robinson until a breakout deeper in his Heat career than where Jovic currently stands. For a moment, it appeared Jovic would bypass the opportunity for a season-ending interview, initially listed by the Heat along with Tyler Herro and Andrew Wiggins as players who declined the voluntary session Thursday at Kaseya Center .

Eventually, Jovic came around, offering a perspective of being in a similar Heat position to where Robinson previously stood. “You’ve got to be good every night for them to continue playing you,” he said, having fallen out of the rotation numerous times as the Heat fell to No. 10 in the East and then were eliminated in their Tuesday night’s play-in opener in overtime by the Charlotte Hornets.

“Like I said, in the minutes I have, I’ve got to be perfect to get consistent minutes. If I don’t, I’m just going to be at the end of the bench, I guess. ” Which is where the 2022 Heat first-round pick was for the entirety of the loss to the Hornets, even with the Heat losing starting center Bam Adebayo in the opening ticks of the second quarter to the back injury inflicted by what later was ruled a flagrant foul on Hornets guard LaMelo Ball.