Joel Anthony, 2x NBA Champion

Joel, appreciate the time. How are you? I'm doing good. I'm doing good. Thanks for having me.

Well, thanks so much for coming on. So, you're undrafted. You know all about this Heat culture. Just what is it like for you right now to see the Heat one win away from getting to the NBA Finals with all these undrafted players? I'm loving it. It's been great to see, obviously, the level of basketball has been really good. They're rolling.

They're playing extremely well. But in a style that's unique to Miami, that represents that culture in terms of coming with that underdog mentality. And you're able to see that every day.

And right now, we're able to see the results of all that hard work that those guys have put in. When you were in Miami, you knew how good of a coach Eric Spulcher was, but I think the rest of us did not. What did you see from your coach back then?

Because now he's, right now, pound for pound, the best coach in the sport. One of the things you need to be successful is consistency. And those are some of the things that he drove into all those teams in terms of his attention to detail and making sure that we're as well prepared for, one, whatever we're going to go through. Just to be able to go through all those practices every year, every day, honestly. It was always something that he was always trying to perfect with us. And with the heat, that standard is something that carried over to everyone in the organization.

And those are very important things to Spulcher to make sure that guys were as well prepared and that they played the style of basketball that represents that culture in terms of the hard work and discipline that goes into it. And like I said, he has them in a really good place right now. Now, he was always controversial early on because there was that thought maybe Pat Riley would eventually come on back. And I know he was in the organization from 1997 to 2008 before becoming the head coach in that 2008 season. Was it obvious early on in your tenure with the team that he was going to be a really good head coach? Like, did you have a lot of belief in him early on?

I think we definitely... I know for me, I guess there's some bias. Spulcher was the coach that really gave me an opportunity early on. And it's the same narrative, giving an undrafted player an opportunity. The fact that he was looking to look wherever and it was about if you were putting in the work and you were going to do well, you'd be given the opportunity based on the work that you put in. So there's trust in terms of the talent that he saw.

It didn't matter where you came from, where you're drafted, what your salary was. Spulcher was about having guys come in to be able to produce regardless of that type of background. And you also saw the work that he put in. The same way that he demands a lot of hard work, a lot of hours, and it's obviously extremely difficult for some people to go through physically, mentally in Miami. Spulcher is someone that has grown up in that system as a professional and he does it himself. And you see the time that he puts in and what all those things mean to him. So the work that he puts in, even though he's demanding it from his players, it's coming from him and his staff as well with all the time and detail that they put into every individual and then as a collective as well.

Joel Anthony here with us. So you have two championship rings from your time with the Miami Heat. When you look back at those teams, what are the memories that come back to mind all those years later? Really, the time to spend together, I think, off the court more and more than anything.

Just talks in the locker room and just some of those downtime moments, the playing rides. Those are the things that, even then, these are the things you're always going to remember. We're going to look back on these things and definitely appreciate it so much more because these are the things that, even then, we knew how special that was. We knew how special those times were and we never took it for granted. I think that was something that was extremely important. We were fortunate to obviously play on such a good team, but it was also such a close team as well.

Those are the things that we probably look back and appreciate more than anything. Joel Anthony, the night where LeBron James elected to take his talent to South Beach, what do you remember about that evening? I remember being at home and at first wondering why I opted out of my contract at that time.

This was a huge mistake for me and there wasn't any room for me. I wanted to be back, but not being too sure how the business of basketball was going to be. Miami was obviously where I always wanted to return to because of the opportunity. But obviously with Bron signing, that really changed it because of the expectations that everyone had.

My agent eventually explained to me and calmed me down and told me that there's still going to be an opportunity. I was very excited that there was a possibility for me to resign with them and to be a part of that, for them to want me to be a part of that. When he made that announcement, it was extremely exciting for me to see that. It was just like everyone else. I remember looking outside my condo and seeing fireworks right after he said that he was taking his talent to South Beach. I saw all the fireworks outside downtown Miami. People were excited from day one, obviously.

I was definitely the same way. LeBron just wrapped up year 20 in the association after getting swept out of the conference finals by the Nuggets. He talked about how much he has to contemplate his future and it starts all the retirement speculation. Were you surprised when you heard that from LeBron last night or not so much?

No, just because no one is thinking too much of it. Obviously it was something down the line, but everything with him, you're thinking of at least a couple more years, which is still a lot. That would put him at 22, maybe even if it was just a couple more and at his age, but he's obviously held off father time for an extremely long time and has played at a high level even up to this year. He was still able to play at an extremely high level.

It was a little surprising to hear that, but it's hard for people to realize that he is human even though he obviously does extraordinary things on the court. This is something that all basketball players, even someone as great as him, have to think about and have to contemplate. I'm sure he'll take the time to get away from the game a little bit and just go over things with himself and with his family and think about what he wants to do next. I gotta think he'll be returning though for a 21st season, right?

I would assume so. I would definitely assume so, but obviously he said this right after losing in the conference finals and getting swept, so the emotions and everything else, those things are still raw and new and it's very difficult to deal with losing in the playoffs, especially when you get that far. So I'm sure after he takes some time, like I said, he'll be able to come to a more sound decision, but the talk about it isn't something that's too out of the ordinary. It's just you never really heard it from him, which I think is what people are really surprised about. Joel Anthony, in this next great chapter of Heat basketball, you see the greatness of Jimmy Butler. I've been talking about like he has a killer instinct like Michael Jordan and also the late great Kobe Bryant, and he had these playoff heroics like Kawhi Leonard as well as we've seen throughout the years.

But what do you see when you watch Jimmy Butler play? One is his toughness. I see the toughness and that will, he likes to say he's just out there hooping. And just his ability to be able to stay within that moment and play extremely high level basketball, but also on both ends of the court, which is what's extremely impressive as well.

He's never really just built for that organization. So it's great to see him have success there. But he's really just a really incredible, like tough minded player that is obviously leading his team to what appears to be an eventual finals appearance again.

And you got to feel good for Bam too, because he's been up and down as well Bam out of bio. He's really started to come together these last few games and he's been a huge key for Miami to be able to go on a run like this. Yeah, and he's someone else that fits very well into the Heat culture.

A tough player that plays both sides of the ball. More of a prototype, big for this generation of the NBA. And it's all about his steady improvement. He's still learning and nothing is going to get you more prepared to have success in this league than going through these battles in the playoffs. And he's been able to take this time to continue to improve from the Heat standpoint.

As long as he's trending at the right time, you couldn't be happier. So it's definitely great for him to have this success now at the highest level when his team needs it the most. Put on your basketball cap here Joel Anthony. When you go out to the Western Conference, we know the great career so far. The Koliokic and Jamal Murray being back and at this level for the Denver Nuggets is so big. Just what stands out to you about what you've been seeing so far when you watch Denver?

One, obviously how balanced they are. They share the ball really well. To have a player like Yogic who's so unselfish and especially for a big to have the ball run through him as much as it does and he's always able to make the right plays for them.

And when he has to for himself as well. This is similar to someone like Bron who's obviously been able to play amazing unselfish basketball. They're extremely well coached as well. Mike Malone, I'm actually a fan of his. He was with the Canadian National Team years ago but has always been a really good coach and it's great to see him have success.

Like I said, the balance and the confidence that that team is playing with right now and they have an absolute star, a superstar in Yogic. It's a lot of really good basketball that we're able to see. Before we let your own Joel Anthony, this new chapter for you as the GM of the Montreal Lions, what have you learned about yourself and how you've been enjoying the opportunity as a late? It's been great for me to be able to transition into something else within the game. Something else that I love like the foot office side has been a lot of fun for me. It's been a lot of work. I have a new appreciation for some of the executives that I've been able to know throughout my time of playing just because of everything that goes into it.

But a great learning experience and time for me to be able to help out my basketball community back home in Canada as a whole but more importantly for the city I was born and raised in in Montreal. Well thanks so much for doing this. Good luck the rest of the way and we'll talk to you again soon. Alright, thanks a lot for having me. I appreciate you.