National Basketball Association (NBA) champion Norman Powell says he intends to capitalise on the momentum he gained playing for Jamaica’s basketball team this summer and translate it to a successful season with the Miami Heat.

Powell, who won the 2019 NBA title with Toronto Raptors, will enter his 11th season in the league as one of the Heat’s biggest assets after being traded from the Los Angeles Clippers in July. The NBA season is set to start on October 21.

It will be his second debut in a matter of months for the 32-year-old after helping Jamaica qualify for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers in August.

American-born Powell, whose father is Jamaican, is arguably the most notable player to represent the country, and showed his value during the pre-qualifiers where Jamaica finished second in the group behind favourites Mexico.

His highlight performance came in the 80-76 overtime win over Costa Rica where he scored a game high 34 points to seal Jamaica’s historic qualification.

Powell says the national team experience was incredible and has deepened his connection to the island.

“For me, it was a passion project, not knowing much about my roots growing up and being able to be a part of the national team, immersing myself in the culture, meeting the guys, the guys teaching me patois, and just being around everybody was amazing,” he said.

“Helping them qualify for the first time in the team’s and country’s history was also a bonus, and then the response from me playing, I didn’t expect that from just the Jamaican community and the Caribbean community; it’s been amazing.”

Powell was introduced to the international style of play while competing for Jamaica, and he believes he can use it to his advantage for the Heat.

“The FIBA experience was definitely good for me — more physical during the play, not the same as when you’re looking for fouls and trying to get fouls and the refs [referees] not calling it, but I thought it was good just in prepping me for the season and just having a chance to play more live five-on-five basketball,” he said.

“Usually my summers are more training — individual and then later in the summer we start playing five-on-five, but being able to play full court for the full course of the summer I think is going to be beneficial for me heading into the season.”

The south Florida area, of which Miami is a part, is home to the second-largest Jamaican population in the United States and Powell says he’s already feeling the love from the Diaspora.

“I’ve been around the city and people have come up to me from playing with the national team and being so close. People are giving me their respect and love for playing and competing and helping the team move to the next round. But I’m definitely excited to actually get my feet on the ground once the season gets going, I get fully settled to try some good Jamaican food,” he said.

With Miami being in touching distance of Jamaica, Powell is hoping to frequent the island more often and help with the development of the game.

“I’ve been to Jamaica three, four times just visiting, trying to figure out where my family comes from. My dad is from Kingston, so now that I know now and have a little bit more guidance, I’m definitely looking forward to getting over there after the season, since we’re so close, and spending some more time down there, doing some more community outreach there, and setting up some programmes,” he said.

Last season Powell averaged a career high 21.8 points a game for the Clippers but missed out on an All-Star nod.

However, he’s looking to change that season while making the Heat more competitive than they were last season.

“I feel like the expectations for myself never change, I always have high expectations for myself. After last season I want to continue that trend and that success. Hopefully, this year it will equal me being an All-Star, but helping this team win is the main focus,” he said.

“I’ve always loved playing with teams that want to contend and win championships because that’s the main goal. I think we have a great group of guys who are selfless, who want to win, want to compete and lay it on the line for each other.”

Three-time champions Heat finished with a 37-45 record in the 2024/25 regular season and were swept 4-0 in the first round of the playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

POWELL… being able to be a part of the national team, immersing myself in the culture, meeting the guys, the guys teaching me patois, and just being around everybody was amazing