https://youtu.be/h-oOLHUJP8k
Remember when Justise Winslow was LeBron 0.5 for the Heat, sharing the court with the Dragic/Wade/Waiters/Whiteside core? That particular iteration of the Heat seems like it belongs to an entirely different era, but it was actually only two years ago. During the 2018-19 season, it really seemed like Winslow was going to be a major component of the Heat’s future aspirations. He even signed a big contract with the Heat to stick around and build something special.
Then Winslow was injured, and the opportunity came up for the Heat to acquire superstar finals MVP Andre Iguodala, and that was the end of Winslow’s time in South Beach. If Winslow was LeBron 0.5 on the court with his power-forwardness, he was also LeBron 0.5 in terms of leaving the Heat, except instead of rejoining his hometown team to bring them a championship, he just sort of landed on a team that was a viable trade partner. Hence, the “0.5”.
Winslow started off slowly in his return, going 3-of-14 and 1-of-10 from the field in his first two games. Obviously, the rust had to be shaken off, but, if we’re being honest, I wasn’t sure that he would actually succeed in shaking it off. Sometimes, rust stays on you so long that it becomes part of you, and the unrusted version of yourself no longer truly exists. Winslow, in my mind, was a being of at least 60% rust, and that’s not something you can just knock off yourself by getting a buddy to beat you with a stick. That’s something that stays with you forever.
Luckily, I was wrong about Winslow, or maybe I was right and this will be his only good game of the season. Time will tell. Nevertheless, out of respect for his ability to come back strong after not touching the court for so long, I will refrain from calling him “Bustise Winslow”. Or “Justbust Winslow”. Or “Justise Bustlow”.