When it comes from within it can, at times, feel cliche _ trusting the process, doing it the right way, fitting the culture. And then there are times when the outside perspective provides reassuring confirmation, something the Heat very much could use at times such as these.
Monday's game against the San Antonio Spurs will mark the Heat's third game against the Spurs in a month, when counting a preseason meeting at the AT&T Center and then the Heat's 106-99 loss to the Spurs on Oct. 30 at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Before each of those previous games Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made clear what he thinks of the Heat, even in these uncertain times, praising coach Erik Spoelstra, President Pat Riley and the way the Heat identify players who can provide an eventual payoff.
"You just want to make sure they can do the best job they can on the court," Popovich said of establishing a winning culture. "Erik's going to follow through with that."
But Popovich said it is about more than just that, that it is about identifying the type of person you want to move forward with.
"He's going to be somebody who's going to be exemplary as far as people conducting themselves a certain way, understanding the responsibility to the community, being part of the whole," Popovich said of the type of player who can provide enduring reward.
"We work hard at it, we get paid for it, it entertains people. But there are many more important things in the world. And I know that for sure that the Heat, the Spurs understand that."
It hardly is surprising, therefore, that those who have enticed the Heat also have enticed the Spurs. So after the Heat made free-agency overtures to LaMarcus Aldridge during the 2015 offseason, it was the Spurs who came away with the former Portland Trail Blazers All-Star. And then this past summer, the Spurs added a 2014 Heat target, former Chicago Bulls center Pau Gasol, showing just how common the thinking can be between the Heat and Spurs.
Popovich said it also is important to take a long view, as San Antonio did in trading for Kawhi Leonard in the 2011 draft to provide a bridge to the future from Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, just as the Heat moved for Justise Winslow in the 2015 draft and now move forward with a cast loaded with youthful potential.
"We've had to do that over the years with Manu and Tony, and then making the trade for Kawhi before LaMarcus, because we knew we had to have more size at that three position," Popovich said of replenishing with an athletic wing. "So we were able to get that done. And then obviously LaMarcus and now Pau. It's as much about the pieces that go around those guys as anything."
And then Popovich spoke of the element the Heat still are trying to define with players such as Hassan Whiteside, to see if the mental toughness is there, a critical component the Spurs got first from David Robinson and then from Tim Duncan. Because even if Winslow can find his shot and move toward something closer to Leonard, the $98 million investment in Whiteside includes the hope for one of the most difficult attributes to forecast.
"Mental toughness," Popovich said, "is a quality that some people have innately. Other people have to grow into it. But it's not about being physically tough, or macho or mean or anything like that. It's about being able to handle situations under pressure, understand the moment, be able to react under fire.
"Mental toughness can be as simple as making a mistake and being able to go on without whining, without crying, without complaining to the referee or a teammate, the kind of mental toughness to move on to the next play. There are myriad of examples like that that reflect mental toughness. Good teams have a preponderance of players who exhibit that."
The Heat had it when they defeated the Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals. The Spurs showed they had it when they returned the favor in the 2014 NBA Finals. Then the Spurs found what they needed going forward in Aldridge and Gasol. Now comes a similar search for the Heat, to get back into a place of contention that San Antonio never left.
