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Ira Winderman

Ira Winderman: 2020-21 might have to be an alternate reality for Heat

In a file image, the Miami Heat's Goran Dragic, left, and Jimmy Butler confer on the bench. (Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel/TNS)

Welcome to the Season of Spo-isms.

Because never before have "we have enough" and "whatever is necessary" and "all hands on deck" and "we're a no-excuse team" become such necessary components of the NBA lexicon.

For Erik Spoelstra, COVID-19 stands like no other opponent.

So he has prepared, as he often has reminded, "for anything and everything."

For the Miami Heat, that means a Plan B for just about every eventuality is in place, with the league's pandemic policy mandating absences of 12 days or longer for positive coronavirus tests.

"You have to go through those plans and responsibilities, and we did go through that during the bubble process and we've had to revisit that with everybody on the staff, in preparing for this season. And the same goes with your preparation as a coaching staff for your team," Spoelstra said of how this season could reflect the approach the team took in the league's quarantine bubble over the summer at Disney World.

"You put together as many different plans as possible, but there are going to be a lot of things unforeseen, that you can't predict, and this might be COVID related or not. In a typical season there are a lot of things that happen that you wouldn't have been able to predict or guess going into it. You just try to prepare as much as you possibly can."

So what would an alternate Heat universe look like?

Perhaps something like this:

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