The Miami Heat won’t be spending Thanksgiving at home this year. The squad is currently in the midst of a road trip that will last until after the holiday.
However, veteran guard Kyle Lowry is making sure that Thanksgiving will be a special day for his team. The Heat newcomer is having his personal chef prepare a dinner for the club’s entire traveling party.
“The new Heat guard told The Undefeated he is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at the team hotel cooked by his personal chef for the entire traveling party,” wrote Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. “And this Heat bonding event isn’t new for Lowry — he hosted Thanksgiving dinners on the road when he was with the Toronto Raptors.”
Lowry offered some insight into what makes events like these so important.
“I know it’s important to have group bonding and group dinners,” Lowry told The Undefeated. “It’s important to not have ‘rah-rah’ dinners. Let’s hang out, man. Let’s get dinner. And it’s important at that time of the year, staff members, marketing or whoever it is, the social media folks. Everybody’s invited, because this is the only thing we can do.
“You ain’t going to sit in a room and order some damn turkey from the in-room dining. It’s just me, who I am. I’m comfortable in my own skin. I don’t worry about anything or anybody saying anything because I’m going to be me, no matter what the situation, the time. And that’s why I’m able to just do what I do.”
While success on the floor is the ultimate goal for any team, that mission is often made possible when a team has a good culture off the floor. Lowry certainly seems to be doing his part to make the Heat a close group.
The 35-year-old has had a major hand in Miami’s solid start to the season. He’s averaging 12.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 7.6 assists per contest so far.
The Heat are 11-6 on the year and seem like legitimate contenders in the Eastern Conference. The organization is trying to win its first NBA title since 2013.