Sunday, the NBA’s ultimate midseason stage will be the stage of Norman Powell.
It has been an 11-year climb to this moment, this first NBA All-Star berth, and, yet, the timing arguably couldn’t be more fitting.
The venue: The Intuit Dome, as in the home of the Los Angeles Clippers.
The host team: Those Los Angeles Clippers, as in the team that discarded Powell in July in search of something better.
And that, as much as anything, is what so resonates about this opportunity for the 32-year-old Miami Heat shooting guard, that something better was there the entire time.
For the Clippers, the decision to move off of Powell was for the apparent upgrade of Bradley Beal and John Collins, neither of whom have upgraded.
And even at the start, it was going No. 46 in the 2015 NBA draft, behind the likes of Rakeem Christmas, Juan Pablo Vaulet and Olivier Hanlan (but, hey, at least one pick ahead of Artūras Gudaitis).
“I think it’s just one of the milestones that puts the stamp on all the work that I’ve put into this game, my career,” Powell said of making it to this All-Star mountaintop. “And then just how I’ve always viewed myself and saw myself in this league, being a player that is at that level of making our All-Star games, All-Star appearances. That’s what I’ve always wanted as a kid. So the fact that for me, I always thought I could be at this level, given the opportunity.
“But it was always about earning that opportunity in the roles. I wasn’t a top pick, a second-rounder, role player, everybody put me in that box. But I’ve always thought if I was given the opportunity, I could be the guy that, on these teams that I’ve played for, I could be that for them and be a go-to guy every single night, a guy that can really help win at a high level. So I think it’s just a stamp on how I view myself in that, yeah, I am at this level and I can be at this level every single year, given the opportunity.”
Understand, such a featured role was not necessarily the expectation when Powell was acquired at the nominal cost of the contracts of Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson.
At the time, the thought was of a one-two punch of Powell and 2025 Heat All-Star Tyler Herro. In fact, with those two splitting the offense, it even could have opened the Heat runway for a return All-Star appearance for Bam Adebayo.
Instead, due to injuries, the sum total of Herro’s work this season has been 11 games.
Suddenly, for arguably the first time, after playing behind Kawhi Leonard in Toronto, Damian Lillard in Portland and James Harden with the Clippers, Powell has become a leading man.
And for all that has gone sideways amid what stands as a 29-27 season for the Heat, it would look far more dire without Powell’s emergence.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Powell said of sitting atop opposing scouting reports. “Honestly, when I think about it, this is something that I’ve always wanted – being a focal point, being top of the scouting report.
“I remember when I was Toronto as a rookie, second-year player, talking to Delon Wright, talking to Fred (VanVleet), and we’re talking about how we’re going to make an impact in the league and what we wanted to do and where we saw ourselves. And we used to talk about being in this position and knowing what that’s like: Having the pressure, having the media, having the fans looking forward to your production and helping the team win. And the great things that come with that and the bad things that come with that. Taking on the responsibility when the team is losing, things aren’t going well or you don’t perform at the level you want to. And then cherishing the moments of triumphing and going on these win streaks and beating the No. 1 and things like that and taking that responsibility as well.”
And, now, he is that.
“So it’s been fun for me,” Powell continued. “It hasn’t been perfect. But just learning how to be more vulnerable with myself and how I can get better, how I can improve and show up for the team when they need me to show up, be the punching bag and be coachable.
“We have a young team. So I’m the oldest on the team, the most experienced on the team, so providing the right way to be a professional and be able to be coached and being able to adjust and get everybody’s mindset on getting the best out of themselves and what they want out of their career.”
Typically such a moment comes with reward beyond All-Star adulation.
But these are not typical Heat times, with the Heat positioned for a fourth consecutive trip to the play-in round.
In the months following Herro’s All-Star breakthrough, the Heat bypassed that extension window.
Now it is Powell who is extension-eligible, otherwise to become a free agent in July.
And that has created an uncertainty of whether this All-Star whirlwind is merely Powell passing through, perhaps as fleeting as Anthony Mason’s Heat All-Star season in 2000-01.
“This is definitely a place that I want to be,” Powell said. “It’s been nothing but great. Coming here getting adjusted, the organization has been amazing. I love where I’m at. I love the setup. I love the mentality. I love the approach. It has been, honestly, a super easy transition because I feel like everybody in the organization has the same mentality I have of pushing yourself to achieve the best and be the best version of yourself. It’s been fun.
“So hopefully, there’s some good synergy from what they’ve seen that I bring to the table. And hopefully a deal is able to be done sometime. But yeah, I see myself being here and being a part of the Heat organization for however long they’ll have me.”
IN THE LANE
FAMILY PRIDE: Yes, Heat guard Norman Powell was born in San Diego, played collegiately at UCLA, but his international ties are real when it comes to representing Jamaica, and therefore playing on the World team in Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game. Powell’s father is from Kingston, Jamaica, with Powell this past summer representing Jamaica in World Cup qualifying. “They’ve accepted me with open arms in helping me understand and know the culture and the history of Jamaica,” Powell said of his work with the national team. “Honestly, it kind of gives me the vibes of how people felt about the Jamaican bobsled team.”
GETTING EVEN: It has been a week since Kel’el Ware was dunked on by Heat teammate Bam Adebayo in the road victory over the Wizards, which, of course, made it a talking point during All-Star Weekend. Asked about it in Los Angeles ahead of Friday night’s Rising Stars competition, Ware said, “I guess you could say I was just surprised, I would say.” Told Adebayo had made it his profile photo on social media, Ware set that record straight, “It ain’t in his profile picture no more. I spoke to him about it. I just told him I said nah brother, that ain’t cool.” So will there be a time during practice to even the score? “I mean, if it happens, it happens,” Ware said playfully. “If he’s under the rim, obviously I’m going to try to catch him.” And would Ware then make that his social-media profile photo? “Nah,” he said.
PUT TO REST: In the years since LeBron James and agent Rich Paul decided to leave the Heat for the 2014 return to the Cavaliers, the perspective has been that all semblance of respect was lost. But now, on his Game Over podcast, Paul made clear just the opposite, citing Pat Riley‘s driven nature still very much having a place in today’s NBA. “There’s a competitive nature that you have to have within you night in and night out for Pat Riley. Whether he’s a coach, FO guy,” Paul said on the podcast co-hosted by Max Kellerman. “Also, there’s an accountability. Can you sit in a film room, be called out and not take it personal and take it with you to tonight’s game and perform. Can you do that? Can you sacrifice? Chris Bosh could. He did it and he won. So when Pat is evaluating talent, he’s not just evaluating your skill set, he’s evaluating your capabilities to do all the things he knows it actually takes to win. That’s why so many guys when they get to Miami, you’re like, ‘Damn, that guy? That’s him?’ I always say, ‘If I have a guy in the draft, please take him, Miami.’”
THE TANK THING: Considering the financial price teams are willing to pay for draft picks or to move up in drafts, the $500,000 sanction to the Jazz or even the $100,000 fine to the Pacers for tanking are basically slaps on the wrist. Want to make the punishments real? Add wins to the final records of violators, not for the actual standings, but for the lottery standings. In the case of the Jazz, adding two, three or more wins to their total quickly would draw any focus away from clear and apparent tanking. Yes, you can say such determinations are arbitrary. But if the NBA can fine to that degree, then there had to have been a basis in the first place.
NUMBER
1-22. Heat record this season when trailing after three quarters. The Heat also are 3-17 when trailing at halftime and 4-16 when trailing at the end of the first quarter.