Inside The Heat

Miami Heat’s Davion Mitchell Sends Bold Message Ahead Of Postseason Berth

Bryan Townes|
Apr 18, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Miami Heat guard Davion Mitchell (45) reacts after the Heat defeat the Atlanta Hawks in overtime at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Apr 18, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Miami Heat guard Davion Mitchell (45) reacts after the Heat defeat the Atlanta Hawks in overtime at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Regardless of how people define “Heat Culture”, nobody can say otherwise about Davion Mitchell being a perfect fit for the Miami Heat. 

After their 123-114 overtime victory against the Atlanta Hawks, Mitchell spoke with NBA on TNT about his impactful performance and the Heat’s confidence heading into the playoffs. 

“I just had to stay confident,” Mitchell explained. “I think in the beginning of the game, I was kinda trying to force things. And in the second half, I just let the game come to me. My teammates had confidence in me. They were swinging the ball. They told me to keep shooting the ball and keep being confident, and that’s what I did.”

“Just don’t count us out,” Mitchell said. “I mean, I feel like we went through a lot of adversity in the regular season. People counted us out, we lost 10 games in a row, became the tenth seed, and people didn’t really believe in us. But this is Heat Culture, so you can never count us out. We’re always going to be in the grind.”

Mitchell having the freedom to cause controlled chaos on both ends of the court significantly impacted the Heat’s ability to secure a victory. After a slow one-point first half, Mitchell finished with 16 points, three rebounds, and five assists on 38.5 percent shooting and 44.4 percent from three-point range.

LEBRON JAMES’S AGENT CLAIMS THERE WASN’T A “BIG 3” WITH MIAMI HEAT

Over a decade later, LeBron James’s four-year run with the Miami Heat remains among the greatest teams in the NBA's history.

The trio of James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh resulted in the Heat’s most successful run in franchise history. They won two championships and made four finals appearances. Before each season, they had the highest odds of winning a championship.

Bosh's great play and sacrifice were a significant reason for their impressive run. Despite arguably being a top-10 player in the league while on the Toronto Raptors, Bosh took a diminished role on the Heat as the third option behind James and Wade. He averaged 17.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists on 51 percent shooting and 30.2 percent from three-point range.

In an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Rich Paul explained why Bosh's relegation to a role player with the Heat is why he doesn’t consider them a big three.

“I always love a big two,” Paul said. “I don’t really love a big three. People talk big three, but the big three thing has never really worked. And you’ll say, well, what happened in Miami? That wasn’t really a big three. There were three guys that went in the lottery, and they did really well individually on their teams, so they put up big numbers and had big accomplishments. But when you think about it, Bosh was the ultimate professional. He took a back seat and played a role in which, because he had such a high IQ and was such a professional as an individual, his approach to everything is what made that work.”

DUNCAN ROBINSON CALLS OUT MIAMI HEAT’S “MARKETING” STUNT

The Miami Heat’s famous "Heat Culture" motto has gained popularity in recent years.

Now, the slogan has become a topic of mockery for many NBA fans, including Heat supporters. Despite being one of the most successful organizations in the league, with three championships and seven Finals appearances, most disagreed with the team's creation of the Culture Jerseys and Culture Court, which detailed a short explanation of the values they pride themselves on. Having things such as those painted a target on the Heat, and it wasn’t a good look when it resulted in a Play-In Tournament loss and a first-round exit to the Boston Celtics in five games. 

On the Young Man and the Three podcast, Duncan Robinson explained he was also wasn’t a fan of the Heat’s idea to create tangible aspects to market the standards they try to live by. 

“Yeah, I think a lot of it stems from Coach Riley,” Robinson said. “Obviously, I love the organization and I have benefited from it a lot. We had some great runs and great times. I will say, when they started to sort of shift into like a marketing thing, I think it lost a little bit. At least for me, as somebody who, when I got there, I didn’t necessarily know about Heat Culture or hear about it in that way. And then you get in between the walls and see it manifest in the day-to-day. Then you buy into this. I’m not coming at the missteps of the organization, but when we had the Culture jerseys and were on the court, I think it ripened us for people to make fun of us.”

Bryan Townes is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at btownesjr@gmail.com or on X @bryantownesjr11. Follow our coverage on Facebook

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Bryan Townes
BRYAN TOWNES

Bryan attended Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia with a focus on sports management. While he didn't grow up an NBA fan, he became one after playing the popular NBA2K video game. From Jimmy Butler to Ray Allen to Chris Bosh, Bryan has followed the Heat for the past several years.

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