Heat forward Haywood Highsmith has broken his silence about the car accident he was involved in that left a victim with a partially amputated leg.
Highsmith was driving home from Miami’s win over Orlando at Kaseya Center last Tuesday night.
According to the crash report, a man was on the road helping a woman with her disabled car as Highsmith approached in his car five mph over the speed limit.
Highsmith couldn’t stop his car in time and crashed into the stopped car and the man, who was directly behind it.
He was cited with “careless and negligent” driving, though not criminally charged.
Highsmith explained how glad he was to be back on the court following the Heat’s 109-104 victory over the 76ers on Wednesday.
“Basketball is my peace,” Highsmith said, via the Miami Herald. “I wanted to get back with my teammates and my coaches, to be around them, so they can get my energy up.
“Obviously, it hasn’t been the easiest week or so for me, but I’m just taking it day by day, and being around my team has been very helpful. Being around my family, the coaching staff, everybody, has been very helpful. So the Heat culture, Heat family had my back, so I appreciate that.”
In Miami’s win, Highsmith recorded his second-highest score this season of 16 points, plus two steals and two rebounds, while going 5-13 from the field – a rare amount of shot attempts by the forward.
“That’s how it is,” Highsmith said. “People keep leaving me open, I’m going to keep shooting it. So if that’s how a team is going to play, so be it. I’m going to keep shooting ’em, no matter if I’m making them or missing.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was certainly happy with his comeback performance.
“He was really good defensively,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And he’s put together three straight games defensively where he’s had a massive impact on the game. …And then he hit a big three in the fourth quarter, and I loved the fact he stayed with it. He missed some open ones and didn’t get discouraged by that and when we really needed him to knock down one based on how they were guarding him, he hit a big one.”