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Miami Heat will have some sort of social justice message when regular season resumes

Miami Heat likely to join rest of the NBA in national anthem protests

The Miami Heat are expected to follow the rest of the NBA's lead and display a protest in the fight against social injustice before their game against the Denver Nuggets Saturday in Orlando.

When the restart began, teams took a knee during the national anthem. 

"To be able to see the unified message, that's what makes is so powerful," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "You'll see something similar in our game and collaborate with the Nuggets to do that."

The Heat have joined other teams in the cause. The stance began after a recent series of racially-charged incidents, including the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police officers, that led to protests around the country. Center Bam Adebayo and forward Udonis Haslem have been among the most vocal. 

The Heat refused to reveal their plan in detail but said there was a meeting about it after Thursday's practice.

"You could see the emotion of out everybody, the players and the staff," Spoelstra said. "Again, the unified message in this fight against systemic racism and racial inequalities is something our entire Association is united to fight against. That's a powerful, powerful statement It has nothing to do with the politics or how we all feel about the flag. In my mind, this is an "and." It's not an "either" or a "but." You can feel a certain way about honoring the flag and the country and feel that there needs to be some significant changes in the system regarding racial inequalities."

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