<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Two seasons ago during a Heat-Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, Rafer Alston and Caron Butler nearly came to blows on the sideline, having to be separated by teammates. The incident wasn't caught on camera, however, and throughout that season the Heat was said to have great chemistry. Last season, Shaquille O'Neal was critical of Damon Jones, yet the two of them were considered the closest teammates on the roster. So what makes Monday's on-court squabble between Antoine Walker and Jason Williams a sign that the Heat is coming apart? It doesn't, the Heat said. ''If that happens in Detroit and Rasheed Wallace is yelling at somebody, that's a veteran team with leadership getting on each other,'' Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. ``But because of the way our guys have been portrayed, then it's a problem. That stuff's laughable. It happens all the time. Those guys got together on the bench and worked it out two minutes later.'' Walker and Williams said the argument was over a botched offensive play, in which Walker was stuck with the basketball and nowhere to go, and Williams failed to cut to help out Walker. Moments later, though, the pair could be seen slapping hands on the bench after talking out the situation. Gary Payton, who stepped between Walker and Williams to help calm down the two, said such arguments happen often in the league. ''It happens a lot on basketball teams, but you just don't see it on the floor like that,'' Payton said. ``They got into a heated moment, came right back on the bench, said what they had to say to each other, and they were friends again. It happens. You do that in relationships. You're going to get into a fight, then all of a sudden you'll go home, buy your significant other a flower and y'all are going to make up and go to dinner. ``I think because we've already been labeled as a team that's going to be in turmoil, they want something like that to happen.''</div> Source
I do believe the incident was blown out of proportion, but it's not a positive sign that Walker is being so demonstrative with his frustration (with a new teammate, mind you) so early in the season...
I think at this point it's fine- it just shows that Walker cares about winning and isn't going to take sloppy mistakes lightly. Of course there are times when players need to get in eachothers faces to get them to play better, and, as in all of sports- they are under a magnified spotlight which makes the littlest thing appear like a glaring flaw. Until Shaq starts whining, Dwayne realizes how good he is, Payton starts talking trash, Williams throws multiple behind the back passes out of bounds, and Walker throws up a 40ft fadeaway, I think the heat should be fine.
