NEW YORK
Shortly after turning 30 years old last year, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was sidelined by a concerning neck injury that forced him to miss the rest of the season. With Rozier turning 31 on Monday, it’s a reminder of how abruptly last season ended for him.
“I’m not really a guy who tries to backtrack on a lot of things,” Rozier said, reflecting back on that time. “I just try to move forward and see where life can take me. But obviously, I don’t think anybody wants to go through something like that.
“To have a neck injury and then have to miss the playoffs, which is one of the main reasons that you came to this organization. Then you have to reset all over again, sit out and not do things that are part of your typical summer. You got to work on just trying to get strength in your neck and you can’t touch the court. So it’s a little different. But I just still appreciate everything. I’m still playing, I’m healthy.”
But this season also hasn’t been easy for Rozier, who’s going through one of the worst sustained shooting slumps of his NBA career and is currently in the middle of an ongoing federal investigation as part of an illegal sports betting probe.
After beginning this season as a starter for the Heat, Rozier now finds on the fringe of the bench rotation. Rozier played in each of the first 49 games he was available for this season, but has received three DNP-CDs (did not play, coach’s decision) in the 12 games leading up to Monday night’s matchup against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Rozier entered Monday’s contest against the Knicks averaging 11.4 points per game on 39.8 percent shooting from the field and 30.2 percent shooting from three-point range in 58 appearances this season. That would be the fewest points he has averaged and the worst field-goal percentage he has recorded in a season since his fourth NBA season in 2018-19, with Rozier’s three-point percentage currently his worst for a season since his rookie year in 2015-16.
Rozier is one of only four players in the NBA who entered Monday shooting worse than 40 percent from the field and worse 31 percent on threes while playing in at least 50 games this season. That list also includes Brooklyn Nets guard Keon Johnson, Philadelphia 76ers guard Ricky Council IV and Orlando Magic guard Jett Howard.
“Do I wish I played better all season? Of course,” Rozier continued. “But I’m just thankful that I can still put a jersey on and play, and I’m still hopeful that things can turn around for me and the team.”
Rozier doesn’t want to blame last season’s neck issue on his struggles this season. Even though the injury derailed his offseason and prevented him from going through full-contact basketball work until late in the summer, Rozier is not going to use that as an excuse.
“If I had an amazing season, nobody would have talked about that,” he said. “I think it’s just something that we nitpick on if something isn’t going right. But this summer was definitely different than any summer that I’ve ever been in. Me being able to not touch the ball and me being able to not touch the court for however long that was, was just super different for me, especially being a guy who loves ball and wants to get out there. So it was different. But like I said, I just appreciate everything — the struggles, everything. And hopefully things turn around.”
Rozier hears the outside criticism and understands it. After all, the Heat traded Kyle Lowry’s $29.7 million expiring contract and a first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets to land Rozier in the middle of last season.
But Rozier is also trying not to let the outside noise affect him, temporarily deleting Instagram and some of his other social media accounts.
“That’s something that I always do,” Rozier said of recently going dark on social media. “People don’t know. This is my first full year with the Heat. I always do that. I did that last year with Charlotte. I always do that. It’s just something to get my mind right. I feel like it’s a distraction overall. You wake up, you get right online. So I deleted all that stuff. I don’t have Twitter right now, I don’t have any of that. That’s something I do every year, just try to reset my mind.”
The Heat enters Monday’s matchup against the Knicks on a seven-game skid and nine games under .500 for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Rozier enters Monday in the middle of his worst shooting season in nearly a decade.
But Rozier remains appreciative for the small things. It’s an approach he learned during the last year after his neck injury led to some uncertainty surrounding his basketball future.
“I was always told you’re never as good as they say you are, you’re never as bad as they say you are,” said Rozier, who’s the fourth-highest paid player on the Heat’s roster behind Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Andrew Wiggins. “You just got to keep yourself grounded, stay in the middle. Can’t get too high, can’t get too low. People are going to say whatever they want to say. But I just look at it as like, nobody wants me to play well as much as I do. So it’s tough, it’s tough.
“But at the end of the day, you just got to be thankful that you’re blessed from the man upstairs that you can still put a jersey on and you can be talked about it. Whether it’s good or bad, I still look at it as a plus.”
INJURY REPORT
The Heat ruled out Alec Burks (lower back strain), Josh Christopher (G League), Keshad Johnson (G League), Nikola Jovic (broken right hand), Dru Smith (left Achilles surgery) and Isaiah Stevens (G League) for Monday’s game against the Knicks.
The Heat also listed Andrew Wiggins as questionable because of a left lower leg contusion.
The Knicks will be without Jalen Brunson (right ankle sprain), Ariel Hukporti (left knee meniscus surgery) and Kevin McCullar Jr. (G League) against the Heat.