Ira Winderman has been covering the Miami Heat for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel since the franchise was founded in 1988. He took the time to chat with The Big Lead about his college days covering basketball (including a profile of a then-unknown SUNY point guard named Stan Van Gundy), his early years on the boxing beat for the Sun-Sentinel and moving up to Gainesville and covering University of Florida sports before moving on to cover the Heat. The longtime journalist shares his thoughts on the state of the industry, the rise of the Twitter reporter, and the experience of covering the extremely high peaks and low valleys of a basketball franchise since its inception.

Ira also discusses the possibility of Giannis Antetokounmpo joining the Heat come 2021, his best Pat Riley story, why Jimmy Butler is perfect for this franchise, the magic of Erik Spoelstra, why the Heat's Finals run deserves a footnote (but not an asterisk), and what to expect from the exciting young duo of Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. Listen to the full podcast below or follow the link here.