Magic-Heat preseason game canceled due to 'unsafe playing conditions'
TAMPA, Fla. — The first matchup between the NBA's Sunshine State rivals since LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh teamed up in South Beach is going to have to be put on hold for another week.
NBA officials canceled Friday night's exhibition game between the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa amid concerns over a slick playing surface.
"We played well, we warmed up well," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy joked after the decision was handed down by NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson. "I seriously don't know what I'm supposed to say about this. They obviously made the decision it wasn't safe out there, and you just can't put guys at risk."
When the Magic showed up for their 10 a.m. shootaround Friday morning, Van Gundy described the floor as "unplayable."
"This morning, it was unplayable to the point where we didn't even do what we had planned," Van Gundy said. "We wouldn't even run through offense with no defense this morning. We literally did nothing but walk, because I wasn't going to take a chance."
Players also expressed concern over the safety of the playing surface.
"It's like playing on ice right now, literally," Magic guard Vince Carter said earlier in the day. "It's not safe. I wouldn't recommend anybody [be] out there. We want to play the game, and this is what makes it fun because its neutral and you get the best of both sides, but more than anything, the season is right around the corner. Do you risk that for whatever reason? Because the floor is slightly slippery?"
Tod Lieweke, the CEO of both the St. Pete Times Forum and the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning, issued an apology and took responsibility for the faulty floor.
"First and foremost, we want to apologize to the fans that came to the game tonight, and also to the two teams," Lieweke said. "There was debate late in the day about the floor being playable. Some people felt it was, but ultimately absolute wisdom is you would never risk injury to one of these great players.
"It would've been the longest game of my life to watch a game like this played on a court that perhaps wasn't safe, and so the decision was made. As hard as it is for me to stand in front of you, the right and honorable thing is to never ever risk player injury."
The early speculation was that the wetness was a result of condensation from the Tampa Bay Lightning's sheet of ice beneath the basketball floor — the Lightning played the Islanders in the same arena on Thursday night — but later in the afternoon, St. Pete Times Forum spokesman Bill Wickett said that the issue was stemming from an "improper cleaning agent" that was used on the court's surface.
After the game had been canceled, it was still unclear exactly what the "cleaning agent" was.
"It had an oil content and it should not have been used," Lieweke said. "The solution was put back on the floor when it was brought back into the building months ago. I went on the floor first thing this morning and to my untrained eye it looked fine, but those who walked on the floor said, 'Hey there seems to be some sort of film on this.' "
A large gathering of arena staff worked for hours during the morning and afternoon, using a vinegar-and-water mixture to try to remove the oil from the floor.
"We worked all day," Lieweke said. "I was optimistic a couple hours ago, but when those trained eyes came and looked at the floor they said it was just not right. As we got closer to game time, you can't advocate playing on, and then God forbid a player goes down."
Magic general manager Otis Smith said that he had been in contact with the league office throughout the afternoon and evening, but that he did not make a formal recommendation that the game be canceled.
"We can't make recommendations — the only thing we can do is talk from a standpoint of the floor being too slick in some spots to play," Smith said. "The officials came out and made their assessment of the floor as well, so it's not just us, but at the same time you want to protect your guys. You don't want them out there with the opportunity to slip and fall and have things worse."
Just minutes before the game was canceled, Van Gundy expressed concern over the safety of his players and said that they were either all playing or none of them were playing.
"You can't decide, 'It's dangerous, so we're going to send out other guys to play.' We're talking injury situations," Van Gundy said. "It's either safe to play, or it's not. It can't be, 'It's not safe enough for Dwight, LeBron and Chris Bosh, but its safe enough for the other guys.' That's B.S. I would never be part of that. When it comes to injury situations, everybody is absolutely equal. They may not be equal in terms of talent, but when you're talking about injury risk, everybody's equal."
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he regretted not being able to play in front of the Heat's Tampa-area fans.
"It's an unfortunate and highly unusual circumstance that the NBA deems the court unsafe to play tonight," Spoelstra said. "We want to apologize to our fans here. We wanted to play tonight and have an opportunity to grow as a team, but also to show the fans here our game and how much we've progressed in the last few weeks."
Van Gundy said that these types of issues are more common than people think.
"I think when it comes down to the safety issue — and look if you go back, it happens in the regular season — you come in, it's usually when a hockey game was the night before, and a regular-season game gets canceled," Van Gundy said.
Van Gundy continued: "If a regular-season game gets canceled it gets rescheduled and there's 41 games in that building every year. I think if this was in an NBA arena in a regular-season game they would have made the decision even more easily. It's hard when you're at an off-site place and you've got a lot of tickets sold and the whole thing."
Lieweke said that the Forum sold more than 18,000 tickets for the game and stressed that every ticket would be refunded at the point of purchase.
"We are also going to think about how we might be able to make this right to the fans down the road," Lieweke said.
Said Van Gundy: "It's unfortunate in any situation, [and] it's doubly unfortunate because you're in a non-NBA city. Luckily, at least we're in Tampa, its not like these people can't get to an NBA game. In Hidalgo, Texas it's a little tougher, but it's still unfortunate to have a game here in another place and not be able to play it."
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