Sports Reporter

Ira Winderman

Ira Winderman is a sports reporter for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, specializing in coverage of the NBA and Miami Heat, having covered the team since its 1988 inception. He is a co-author of The Complete Encyclopedia of Basketball, having won awards for his coverage from the Professional Basketball Writers Association and Florida Sports Writers Association.

Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka watches the game during the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals playoff series against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Celtics’ Smart upgraded to probable, with Heat’s Lowry still out, as pandemic, protocols remain series factors

May 18, 2022 at 11:48 p.m.

The specter COVID and illness continues to be a factor in the Eastern Conference finals series between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics. A day after the Celtics big...

MIAMI, FLORIDA - MARCH 23: Head coach Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat yells at Jimmy Butler #22 during a timeout in the second half against the Golden State Warriors at FTX Arena on March 23, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Eric Espada, Getty Images)

Heat ‘get frustrated and explode’ then insist all is right in wake of Butler-Haslem-Spoelstra confrontation | See video

March 25, 2022 at 8:25 a.m.

Kyle Lowry did not attempt to sugarcoat, not that it would have been possible in the wake of social media seemingly chronicling every twist and turn of the truly bizarre...

Heat broadcaster Jason Jackson has been sidelined by NBA protocols.

Longtime Heat broadcaster Jason Jackson joins forward Caleb Martin in NBA protocols

December 13, 2021 at 12:55 p.m.

The Miami Heat's COVID concerns have moved into the broadcast booth, with radio announcer Jason Jackson not with the team for its four-game trip due to health-and-safety protocols. A team...

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has questions about the NBA approach to asymptomatic positive COVID tests.

Heat’s Spoelstra questions NBA policy on parking asymptomatic players who test positive for COVID

December 12, 2021 at 3:14 p.m.

As a coach, little matters as much as efficiency. And yet with his team the latest in the crosshairs of the NBA's COVID-testing policy, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra wonders...

The Heat have struggled to find their road footing this season.

Heat road-weary and road-dreary as trip delivers them to Chicago

November 26, 2021 at 5:39 p.m.

Through all the turbulence, the Miami Heat have been able to remain solidly afloat this season, at 12-7 and among the Eastern Conference leaders going into Saturday night's game against...

Heat center Meyers Leonard fined and suspended by NBA for anti-Semitic slur.

Heat’s Meyers Leonard fined the maximum, admonished by NBA commissioner Adam Silver

March 11, 2021 at 5:32 p.m.

The NBA announced Thursday that Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard has been fined $50,000 and suspended one week from all team activities. The sanction, the largest fine allowed under the...

Leonard faces possible $50,000 fine and/or one-game suspension for slur, but Heat might not cut him

March 10, 2021 at 11:16 p.m.

As the NBA works through its investigation of the use of an anti-Semitic slur by Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard, the punishment might not be as harsh as some might...

Heat center Meyers Leonard stood alone during the playing of the national anthem amid the NBA's restart last summer.

Heat condemn Meyers Leonard for anti-Jewish slur uttered during video-game play, center apologizes | VIDEO

March 10, 2021 at 3:50 p.m.

The Miami Heat have distanced themselves from Meyers Leonard after the team's center acknowledged uttering an anti-Semitic slur while streaming his video-game play on Monday night. The Heat's action came...

Suds statement: Heat’s Meyers Leonard on his NBA beer-guzzling dominance, ‘It’s too easy’

July 20, 2020 at 10:14 a.m.

The NBA won't begin playing for real for another week and a half, but Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard has declared it game over at the league's "bubble" setting at...

Jimmy Butler lone Heat player to bypass social-justice jersey message . . . as his own statement

July 16, 2020 at 10:35 a.m.

The Miami Heat on Tuesday announced the social-media messages that players will wear on their jerseys for the NBA's season resumption at Disney World. As part of the league's push...

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