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Gerald Green goes to the basket against the Charlotte Hornets on Oct. 28. (Getty Images)
The bonds that Heat players formed leading up to the season are about to matter in a big way. Gerald Green will be back with the team this weekend and eligible to play Tuesday, and it appears he will return to a group that trusts him to stay upright despite his misstep.
[Goran Dragic vows to improve: “I’m not a quitter”]
[Pat Riley talks Gerald Green suspension, Mario Chalmers trade]
[Udonis Haslem’s heartfelt messages to traded Heat players Mario Chalmers, James Ennis]
Green was hospitalized last week (and a City of Miami Police report says he punched a person in the face) and has not played since Nov. 1. The Heat have classified his issue as “conduct detrimental to the team” and “a personal matter” with no details, but he did something that merited a two-game suspension in their eyes.
“Life happens, things happen,” Chris Bosh said. “It’s always good to have your whole, complete team here together.”
When asked if there is damaged trust between Green and his teammates, Bosh said no and reiterated he has full confidence that they can count on Green.
“He’s a pro,” Bosh said. “That’s the trust you have when you’re grown men in a locker room. When he comes back, he comes back with us having open arms and he’ll get right back to work.”
Erik Spoelstra and Pat Riley both said Green has convinced there is no reason to doubt him going forward. Spoelstra believes re-acclimating Green to the team is the best thing for him.
“Let’s get him right back into the mix, in practice, around the guys,” Spoelstra said. “He wants to be back. It’ll be fine. Gerald is a great personality, and we’re fortunate because of the schedule that we’ll have some practices.”
Miami has four days off between tonight’s game against Utah and Tuesday against the Timberwolves. The team likely will practice Saturday, Sunday and Monday, giving Green as good an opportunity as possible to regain his footing.
“We’ll work him back in, but I don’t think it will take long,” Spoelstra said. “He was playing great basketball before that.”
Dwyane Wade said, “We only played with him a couple games and we haven’t had a full season with him. He’s a scorer in his blood, so he’s gonna be able to do that, but I’m sure it’s gonna take him a while to get back in the flow as well.”
Green averaged 10.3 points and shot 32.3 percent, including 7 of 17 on 3-pointers, in his first three games.
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