On Sunday, Miami won by forceps in Denver (111-108) to tie at one win everywhere in the final stage before the NBA title. A victory all the more convincing, as their opponent had not yet bowed on his floor since the beginning of the play-offs.

And if the leaders Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo were obviously preponderant (21 points each), it was Gabriel Vincent who finished top scorer with 23 points scored, with a formidable skill (8/12 including 4/6 from behind the arc). An excellent shooter, the 26-year-old point guard, who had scored 19 three nights earlier, impresses with his serenity and ability to play fair.

"He's one of those guys who blazed their trail, ignoring +you're not this, you're not that+... I think a lot of people will find out who Gabe Vincent is," Adebayo said, recalling that in 2021 "he spanked us during a warm-up match for the Olympics with Nigeria. He already had this kind of energy, this anger and anger. That day, I felt he was one of us."

"Deserve and work hard"

For the pivot, "the undrafted can be starters in the NBA Finals and it does not matter that they were not selected".

Miami, which has no less than nine, more than half of its roster, has requested seven during these playoffs - a number never reached in 57 years in the NBA. In addition to Vincent, there are Max Strus, also a starter, Duncan Robinson, Caleb Martin, Haywood Highsmith, Omer Yurtseven and veteran Udonis Haslem, guarantor of a "Heat Culture" advocating a taste for effort and dedication to the team.

Max Strus of the Miami Heat defends on Michael Porter of the Denver Nuggets during Game 2 of the NBA Finals on June 4, 2023 in Denver © MATTHEW STOCKMAN/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

The 42-year-old interior has been at the club for twenty years. He was able to convince president Pat Riley to recruit him, after a first professional season in Chalon-sur-Saône (2002-2003) in France. He has been in all the finals of Miami including those won in 2006, 2012 and 2013.

"It is not possible to measure the character, discipline or sense of responsibility of a player in a draft, but many of these elements are sometimes overlooked. You will be given the same chance here as if you were selected in first position. You just have to earn it and work hard," Haslem told The New York Times.

The NBA has 126 undrafted players, about a quarter of the contingent. And at the Heat, these "left behind" have risen in rank, accounting for a third of the points scored by the team during the past regular season.

"Competitors and winners"

Also, coach Erik Spoelstra deplores that his players are reduced to this status. "It's over, it's disrespectful to keep talking about them that way. These guys have proven to be competitors and winners."

Miami Heat's Duncan Robinson walks to the basket in front of the Denver Nuggets' Jeff Green during Game 2 of the NBA Finals on June 4, 2023 in Denver © POOL/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

"I appreciate him saying that. It means a lot and he is right. But it's something that will always stick to us, even if with what we do for the team, it doesn't really resonate with us anymore," said Max Strus, whose strength of character was brilliant Sunday, with his four consecutive winning baskets (14 pts) in the first quarter, to forget his 0/9 three nights earlier.

Duncan Robinson, who put the Heat on the road to success in the final quarter, scoring the first ten points at 100% success, recently assured that "as an underdog, when you are given the opportunity to wear this jersey, you want to get high". He was rewarded in 2021, with a five-year, $90 million contract.

"When you're in that position, you're ready to do anything," said Caleb Martin, not yet in sight in this final, but who was decisive against Boston in the previous round, his average of 19.3 points (60.2% shooting) putting him in the discussion for the MVP award of the Eastern finals finally went to Jimmy Butler.

© 2023 AFP