- Miami Heat insider says he has ‘sneaking suspicion’ team will try to maximize Haywood Highsmith
- Report: Detroit Pistons add former Miami Heat champ to coaching staff
- Udonis Haslem wants to avoid his pursuit of Miami Heat ownership ending like that of Dwyane Wade
- Udonis Haslem says superstars across NBA ask him for advice because they value his opinion
- Jimmy Butler’s agent takes aim at Brian Windhorst and Zach Lowe after Miami Heat star gets disrespected in ESPN rankings
- Report: Jae Crowder would ‘welcome’ a return to Miami Heat
- NBA scouts explain why they’d start Jimmy Butler at PF and bring Caleb Martin off bench
- NBA exec on Heat’s PG situation: ‘I think the dirty little secret there is that they were better with Gabe Vincent…than with Kyle Lowry’
- NBA exec expresses concern that Tyler Herro might focus on ‘putting up his own numbers’ this season if he doesn’t get extension
- Jimmy Butler hilariously challenges Dwyane Wade to battle in unique sport: ‘Accept my challenge, chump’
Report: KZ Okpala Studying Footage of Kawhi Leonard and Scottie Pippen
- Updated: July 31, 2020
Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY SportsMiami Heat rookie KZ Okpala has yet to see much playing time in his young NBA career, but his coaches are certainly trying to morph him into an impact player.
In fact, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, coaches have instructed Okpala to watch film on some of the top two-way forwards in league history.
One such forward is Los Angeles Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard.
“Okpala said Heat coaches have given him film edits of athletic two-way forwards such as Kawhi Leonard, Shawn Marion and Scottie Pippen ‘to study different things from their games that they believe I can do as well,'” Chiang wrote.
Surely, these are hard players to mirror oneself after. Nonetheless, the Heat have proven to be one of the best teams in the league when it comes to developing young talent.
Undoubtedly, Okpala also has high hopes for himself. This season, he’s already compared himself to New Orleans Pelicans star Brandon Ingram and defending MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
It remains unclear how close Okpala will ever get to mirroring these players, but the Heat coaching staff is surely pointing him in the right direction.
Related Posts
About Jonathan Sherman
You must be logged in to post a comment Login