The Return of Easy-Ed

Tonight's preseason game against the Grizzlies - live from San Juan, Puerto Rico (8:30pm NBA TV) - has some very intriguing back-stories. Sure, there is the matchup of Jason Williams and James Posey against their former teammates on the Memphis roster. There is even the story of Jason Williams going up against Mike Fratello - a coach who was rumored to not be very thrilled with Jason Williams' production. Fratello was also the Heat's color analyst for their TV broadcasts while he was here in Miami for a brief stint before being hired on as the Grizzlies head coach after Hubie Brown stepped down.

But behind all of this is an even more interesting storyline - the one that sees Eddie Jones return to play against his former team. Sure, it is not in front of a Miami crowd at this point (that isn't until January 24th), but it is still bittersweet. EJ will now go up against the team that only a couple of months ago he was a part of and auditioning to be in the Finals representing the East. Now, he is cast over to the Western Conference and playing for another scrappy up-start, the Grizzlies. Eddie can take solace in the fact that one of the best GM's ever to grace the game, Jerry West, wanted him to play (again) for his team - eventhough one of the best coaches and now, Presidents, had sent him packing in Pat Riley.

Still, the former Heat team captain seemed to have left town as quietly as he came. He never got the respect that he deserved from the majority of the Heat fans; most "heatians" coming on-board the crowded bandwagon very late. Like 50,000 mile-warranty-expiring-late. As a result, most of these fans missed out on why Eddie Jones was such a valuable player to the Heat.

Last season, Eddie Jones took to the role of playing small forward. This was not his natural position, playing mostly shooting guard throughout his career, but he took to it and did what the team and Stan Van Gundy asked. EJ was a premier defender, and the Heat's go-to guy for perimeter defense - going up against players much larger than him and probably stronger on any given night. And he shut each opponent down, night in and night out.

EJ's offense wasn't worth the big contract he was getting, sure. But it didn't have to be - after all, this became Dwyane Wade and Shaq's teams while EJ was on watch. He knew that, and deferred - without question or complaint.

EJ also was a great citizen, standing out for his work in the community as well as being a presence in the clubhouse for his work ethic.

Tonight we get to check up on an old friend. We get to see how he is doing, how he is adjusting at his new job in a new town. We should all wish Eddie Jones the best, because when he played for the Heat, he gave us just that - his best.