Pat Riley: Justise Winslow 'Has That It Quality'
Justise Winslow turned 19 three months ago but you'd never know it from listening to him.
It appears Miami Heat blood is already running rampant through his veins.
In a foreign interview room at the bowels of the American Airlines Arena, Winslow sat wedged in between two champions in Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra before a swarm of media, family and representatives. It was his introductory press conference, but he spoke like a man who's been there, displaying a blend of confidence and humility one wouldn't expect from a kid who can't yet legally purchase a beer but is guaranteed an eight-digit contract.
"I was just really excited to get down here," Winslow said. "I know it's a winning organization, an organization that wants to win right now. That's what I'm most excited about. My whole life I've won, I've been a winner so just being part of an organization that's constantly focused on that and wants to do that and prepares everyday to win championships, that's what I'm most happy for. That's why when I did get selected No. 10 to the Heat I was so happy. I've just been dreaming about what it's like to be here since Thursday night."
Winslow won championships in high school before eventually helping lead Duke to the national title as a freshman last season.
But Riley and Spo were gushing about more than just Justise's versatility and skill as a basketball player -- "a swiss army knife," Spo says -- but Justise the person, the inner workings within the mind and heart of one of draft's most intriguing prospects.
"Coach talked about this a minute ago and we call it it," Riley said of the No. 10 overall pick out of Duke. "It can't be defined. You don't see it and I think it's an intrinsic, inner quality that players have. That is something that helps self-motivate them. I don't know Justise, I just met him and talked to him the other night, but I think that's what we're talking about, that it quality, that intrinsic motivation, that desire, that grit, to go and do whatever he has to do to win and I think that's what's compelling.
"That's what I saw on film. That's what we read in all the reports. Obviously at that time we were really concentrating on other people but we were not not doing our homework on this guy, we were just drooling at the fact he's not gonna come to us... It wasn't a coincidence that as things got tougher for his team, he became greater."
In the four games following Duke's entrance to the Sweet 16, Winslow averaged 16.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks on 49-percent shooting from the field. He also lit it up from deep, converting six of ten 3-point attempts.
"It's developing players that want to sacrifice and play for something more than themselves and that's really what winning becomes," Spoelstra said. "It becomes more than just what you're trying to do on your own. For a young player to show those qualities at 19, when really this generation right now is a me generation and you're thinking about how I can impact. Well, basketball is a team game and when you show we qualities at a young age that's very unique and for us it's easy to see because that stands out. It's much different. It's easier to be a me than be a we.
"I just know we didn't talk like this when we were this age. We were not this mature. I can speak for myself. So he's shown a great maturity on the basketball court but a maturity to really understand what winning is about -- sacrifice and being a good teammate. And then rising on the toughest occasions... I always think you can really learn a lot about a player when they're down and it's not going their way. Then you start to see your inner character and that's when he was at his best. Those times of adversity"
19-year-old Justise Winslow is not your typical NBA rookie. That suits the Miami Heat just fine.
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