Former Miami Heat draft pick Michael Beasley is the latest member of the NBA fraternity to take a redemption tour. Though he never drew the public ire like Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving, his choices were still questionable enough for him to be branded as one of the league’s undesirables. So, 17 years after he was drafted second overall, Beasley ranks 17th in his draft class in career points and rebounds.
That isn’t to say that Beasley didn’t stand out. To the contrary, it’s the immense upside he possessed entering the 2008 NBA Draft that makes how his career turned out tragic. With all due respect, there’s no way Robin Lopez should have put the ball in the basket than him averaging 8.4 points per game for his career. Yet, such perplexities are the realities of his destiny.
Former Heat Prodigy Michael Beasley Details Why Career Went Left
A couple of weeks removed from winning the BIG3’s MVP award for the second straight season, Beasley sat down with former Los Angeles Lakers star Michael Cooper (the father of Mavericks wing Klay Thompson) on the BIG3 podcast. Cooper, 69, asked Beasley what distractions he would have eliminated from his NBA career to improve it.
‘If I did it all over again, I would have listened to (Heat president) Pat Riley,” Beasley says. “Pat Riley told me to get a condo, get two bedrooms, one for my mom when she come in town… I went the polar opposite… I got a six-bedroom house, got three dogs, had three, four of my (friends) staying in and then from it, that’s where all the problems came from. …Bailing people out of jail… getting lawyers. My uncle was fighting a RICO. My godfather got nine, 10 years, 13 years. So, to me, I was really dealing with problems.”
“So, I wish the confidence to tell everybody no. Just let me get to my second contract first… And most of the ****-ups that people was me taking the wrap for other people around me and me just being a famous person.”
Athletes Are Human
Beasley isn’t the first player to feel as if the off-court issues surrounding his inner circle bled too far into his life. These aren’t always legal situations. Last year, recently retired former NBA star John Wall opened up about how his mother’s passing ground down his mental health. That, in effect had a cumulative impact on his behavior and ultimately, career. Athletes are placed on superhuman pedestals, particularly professionals. However, just like anyone else, their environments and the mental, emotional or spiritual space that puts them in matters.
Rich Paul of Klutch Sports has weighed in on this as well. Speaking specifically about Beasley, the star agent says:
“But talent also has to be able to value infrastructure too. And I know Michael Beasley personally, and he is a good dude. And I’m sure if he had the opportunity to do it all over again, he would take a different approach.”
Riley wanted Beasley to “lock in and hoop.”
He couldn’t. At least, not how he wanted. By the time he and the Heat parted ways in 2015, his spotty reputation would precede him.
Out Of Position
Of course, the 36-year-old’s fate wasn’t only determined by those circumstances. Beasley has also decried the Heat’s desire for him to bulk up so that he could play like two-time NBA All-Star, Carlos Boozer. But at this point, telling him that he was wrong to want to have the physique and responsibilities of an offensive-minded small-forward –essentially just being himself –wouldn’t make much sense. Winning back-to-back BIG3 MVP awards as a scoring machine is a nice accomplishment, but he also has the respect of Hall of Fame players like Dwyane Wade, a Heat icon.
D-Wade calls Michael Beasley one of the most talented players not in the NBA:
“Michael Beasley is probably the most talented basketball player that’s not in the NBA.”
Agree with D-Wade?
pic.twitter.com/mZrnAj3Y5o
— Wy Network by Dwyane Wade (@wynetwork) August 27, 2025
Still, coming out of Kansas State, Beasley’s style seemed more akin to a power forward for one reason. At 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds, he was a boy among men on the boards. Keep in mind that the All-American averaged 12.4 rebounds per game in his one-and-done season with the Wildcats, leading the NCAA. His 408 total rebounds were a single-season record for Kansas State. He even broke the record for the most double-doubles in NCAA history.
Yet, he didn’t shy away from the 3-point arc. In fact, he shot 37.9 percent from 3 on 2.9 attempts per game. The Heat may have needed to pay more attention to that. Especially as he averaged 26.2 points per game, the third-highest average in the NCAA.
© Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
The post Former Heat Prodigy Details Why Career Went Left appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.