Micky Arison appears to be feeling the heat (no pun intended).
The Miami Heat owner Arison drew attention on Wednesday with a curious post to X. Miami is 1-3 to start the season, and Arison has been facing some criticism from fans over his spending habits.
Arison shared a quote from Mark Twain that read, “No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot.”
— Micky Arison (@MickyArison) November 1, 2023
Many Heat fans are upset with Arison for his supposed unwillingness to spend as much as he needs to. While Miami is a luxury-tax team this season, Arison was reportedly unwilling to compound the bill by trading for the big contract of Bradley Beal, who was very interested in a move to the Heat. As a result, Beal became yet another top-end star that Miami didn’t land (joining the likes of Kevin Durant, James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, and, even more recently, Damian Lillard).
The Heat have only been a luxury-tax team in two of the last ten seasons (this one and in 2019-20). Arison paid the tax all throughout The Big Three era, but his desire to minimize the bill, particularly by using the amnesty clause on Mike Miller, reportedly upset LeBron James at the time.
Nevertheless, Miami has been a conference finalist in three of the last four seasons (with two Finals appearances). Their strategy of surrounding top guys Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo with more modest and often times overlooked talent instead of just going full-on superteam has worked out indisputably well for them. Until that strategy no longer succeeds, don’t expect Arison to change his spending habits any.
