<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s annual media day at Kaseya Center will mark the end of another Miami Heat offseason. It will also mark the end of an offeseason that Heat general manager Andy Elisburg will never forget.<\/p>\n
What began as an infection in Elisburg\u2019s foot late last season turned into much more a few weeks later, as he spent nearly all of May at Baptist Health Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables after going through multiple surgeries to resolve infections in his foot, back and knee that threatened various vital organs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was pretty sick,\u201d Elisburg, 58, said. \u201cI\u2019ve been told this since, but I really wasn\u2019t aware of it at the time. If I waited another few hours or a day or so, there might be a whole different story here. I made it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elisburg made it out and is expected to be with the Heat for training camp practices at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton this week, but he\u2019s endured a lot to get to this point.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we got to the hospital, I was a mess,\u201d recalls Elisburg, who is a Heat original employee of 37 years. \u201cI\u2019ve got an infection in my foot, an infection in my back, infection in my knee, infections throughout my body. It\u2019s affecting my liver, affecting my kidneys. My kidney level was basically at dialysis level. There were a lot of things that were really wrong, and they began a bunch of surgeries.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result, Elisburg needing to have a part of one foot amputated and was bedridden for a month.<\/p>\n
For the first time in a long time, Elisburg needed to put his work as Heat general manager on hold. Others in the front office like Heat president Pat Riley, assistant general manager Adam Simon and senior director of basketball operations Dave Beyer took on more responsibilities to fill in for Elisburg during the early stages of the offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first got sick, Micky [Arison], Nick [Arison] and Pat were basically like, \u2018Andy, do not worry about your job one bit. You have to focus on your health. Do not worry about work, do not worry about anything that\u2019s going on. We will absorb whatever we need to absorb here. You need to take care of yourself and you need to take of your health.\u2019 For the most part when I was at [the hospital], that\u2019s what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
After nearly a month in the hospital, Elisburg had made enough progress to be transferred to Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center in Miami to begin the next stage of his recovery.<\/p>\n
While spending almost two months at the rehabilitation center, Elisburg only then started getting back to work by making some calls to prepare for the NBA Draft in June.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s only so much television I can watch. There\u2019s only so much I can sleep,\u201d Elisburg said with a laugh. \u201cI\u2019m like, I need to do something to keep my brain going. Now we\u2019re starting to get a little closer to the draft, so I started making some draft phone calls and checking with my teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elisburg was even allowed to leave the rehabilitation center for a few hours to join the rest of the Heat\u2019s front office at Kaseya Center for the first round of the NBA Draft on June 25.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll never forget one of the therapists said, \u2018You look happier coming to work than most people do when they go home,\u2019\u201d Elisburg said. \u201cAnybody that knows me, that\u2019s not a surprising statement.\u201d<\/p>\n
All the while, Elisburg went through two grueling physical therapy sessions per day. The only session he missed during his time at the rehabilitation center came on the morning of July 7, when the Heat agreed to trade for Norman Powell.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy therapist walks in, I\u2019m like: \u2018Yeah, I\u2019m not going to make it. I got to call the league, I got to push through certain things,\u2019\u201d Elisburg said. \u201cBut I did make the allowance to the fact that I had a 2 p.m. physical therapy session and I pushed the trade call to 3:30 p.m. So we did my 2 p.m. therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until the middle of July that Elisburg was allowed to return home.<\/p>\n
But Elisburg remains in a wheelchair and still has physical therapy sessions to go through four to six days per week. The goal is to be able to walk on his own again one day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a slow process. It\u2019s slow,\u201d said Elisburg, who is known as one of the most knowledgeable figures in the NBA regarding the complexities in dealing with the league\u2019s salary cap rules. \u201cThat\u2019s where I sort of mentally had to get to a place that this was going to take a long time. They\u2019ve been honest with me, but no one has said I can\u2019t get back to where I was or whatever that looks like \u2014 get back to walking. So I\u2019m going with the notion that I can walk.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I approach each of these things that I do, even those that I\u2019m not particularly fond of, I approach with the notion that this is what I need to do walk. This is what I have to do walk, this is what I have to do to get my life back. I want my life back.\u201d<\/p>\n
That has been Elisburg\u2019s approach and will continue to be his approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s right, it doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s wrong, it doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s fair,\u201d he continued. \u201cI\u2019m here. What do I have to do to move forward? What do I have to do to move forward? What do I have to do to move forward? It is what it is and you\u2019re here, and not spend a lot of time feeling sorry for yourself because it\u2019s not going to change where I\u2019m at and it\u2019s not going to change the circumstance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elisburg is usually a regular on Heat road trips, serving as the team executive who\u2019s on most trips. But he doesn\u2019t expect to travel this year in the wake of his offseason health issues.<\/p>\n
However, Elisburg is planning to be at most Heat games and practices that take place at Kaseya Center this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m approaching this year as if I\u2019m not going to travel,\u201d Elisburg said. \u201cIt\u2019s not in the cards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elisburg can\u2019t tell his story, though, without thanking those who stood by his side and helped him over the last few months.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other thing I would add to it is how eternally grateful I am for all the people who helped me get to where I am,\u201d he emphasized. \u201cThe people who came to the hospital, my friend Marjie who was there every day. My parents who came to the hospital constantly, even if at one point in time my dad was also [at the rehabilitation center] because he needed his own rehab. So my mom was going from room to room. To the people at the hospital, the doctors and the nurses and the therapists there who saved my life, quite honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elisburg views the new NBA season as the start of the next chapter. After all that he\u2019s endured this offseason, he\u2019s hopeful better days are ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is obviously not what I wanted,\u201d he said. \u201cI can certainly say it\u2019s unfair. But I\u2019m also very, very lucky in the life I lead. I\u2019m very, very lucky that I\u2019m doing something I enjoy. I\u2019m very, very excited that another season is getting ready to begin. I\u2019m looking forward to another season and being part of that. I\u2019ve got a pretty good life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a turning of the chapter and it\u2019s off to the next adventure. For me now, my next adventure is getting myself up and walking. I\u2019ve gotten to this place. Now that\u2019s the next step.\u201d<\/p>\n
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