Heat named NBA’s Team of the Year off the court. Also, a different voice for Game 1

The Miami Heat is still alive in its quest to finish as the NBA’s Team of the Year on the court, but it has already been named the Team of the Year off the court.

The Heat won the 2022 NBA Sales & Marketing Team of the Year Award, which “recognizes demonstrated excellence in business performance across both key revenue drivers and operational focus areas such as people and culture, and community impact.” It marks the second time that this honor has been handed out, as the Toronto Raptors won the inaugural award in 2019 prior to a two-year pause because of COVID-19.

The Team of the Year Award was determined by a selection committee made up of team and league executives.

Looking for tickets to Game 1 of Heat vs. Celtics at FTX Arena? Here’s what to know

“It means a lot. It’s nice to be recognized,” Heat president of business operations Eric Woolworth said to the Miami Herald. “It’s particularly meaningful because it’s selected by a jury of our peers. It’s a committee of team presidents and league executives that make the selection, the people who I think really know who’s doing the good work in the league. I think it’s a validation of the way we’ve handled what was a really, really trying time to be in the live events business during a global pandemic.”

The award covers performance during the last 24 months in key revenue driving areas like ticketing, partnerships, digital marketing, strategy, analytics and performance and overcoming COVID-related challenges.

How did the Heat work through the COVID-19 pandemic on the business side?

“We kept our regular calendar, we stayed engaged with our staff, we kept everybody employed and we thought very strategically about what we could do even without fans in the building to keep the business going,” Woolworth said.

“Listen, you can’t ever make up for two years of lost ticket revenue. It’s a deep part of what we do. Like every other team, we lost a ton of money. But we kept things going in a way that most teams couldn’t. I think our staff felt really good about that, I think our ownership felt really good about that. I think the rest of the league clearly took notice that when we were allowed to have fans back in the building and this year when we really got back to business, we were ready.”

In addition, Heat executive vice president and chief marketing officer Michael McCullough and vice president and executive director of the Miami Heat Charitable Fund Steve Stowe were the co-winners of the “Values of the Game” Award. This honor “recognizes an individual or individuals who inspire and connect people everywhere, but specifically in their community, through the power of basketball.”

McCullough and Stowe won for their efforts in launching the Heat’s partnership with the Miami Police Department and Dedication to Community through a community policing program built to help bridge the gap between Black and Brown city residents and local law enforcement.

“We were really looking for ways to try to be a bridge between police force and the community that they police, and we found Dedication to Community as a way to help us build that bridge,” Woolworth said.

Woolworth learned in January that all of these awards were coming, but he kept the secret for three months because the NBA wasn’t ready to announce it. He told his staff during a lunch at the start of the playoffs.

It’s just the continuation of a season that has felt like a “celebration” to Woolworth with fans back in arenas around the league.

“This whole season has been more of a celebration than I can ever remember having a season feel like,” Woolworth said. “Our fans are our lifeblood. To try to live without them was just incredibly painful for us. To have everybody back was equally joyful. I think it has been a joyful season and we’re super excited that it’s ongoing.”

A DIFFERENT VOICE

Heat public address announcer Michael Baiamonte will not be calling Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at FTX Arena on Tuesday night because he’ll be attending his daughter’s graduation from Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Backup announcer, Luis Perez, will serve as the Heat PA announcer in place of Baiamonte for Game 1.