Off the court, Beasley also is adjusting to a new role as a father. His daughter and first child, Mikaiya Zenee Beasley, was born May 19 in New York. Basketball has since taken on a greater meaning.
It was a game he always played for fun, and he vowed to keep having fun even when he started play for money. Now, it's a job he can no longer afford to take for granted.
The NBA game also provided a passkey of sorts to a lifestyle of late-night hangouts, clubs and flirtations with irresponsibility. For Beasley, the NBA now rhymes with 401K. And it represents a chance to provide for life well after he no longer hears the buzzer.
Maturation is no longer something for him to consider. It is a mandate.
''Having another life in your hands, it forces you to grow up and think twice about everything instead of yourself all the time,'' said Beasley, who spent Father's Day at home in Washington, D.C., with Mikaiya before he resumed workouts in Miami this week. 'My first year, I was living day by day, cashing checks and thinking, `I can buy this, I can buy that.' Now, it's like, 'If I [die] tomorrow, can she be set for life?' Instead of saving half of what you get, I'm saving 75 percent of everything I get.''
The Heat welcomes a change in Beasley's outlook and approach after a turbulent year that saw him get fined $50,000 last summer by the NBA for a violation of the rookie transition program and rack up more in financial penalties for breaking team rules during the season.
Teammates, coaches and staffers all have scoffed at some of Beasley's more childish antics at times that often were deemed inappropriate. Beasley said he was aware of his mistakes and vowed to do better, but also said: ``You can't expect me to act like I'm 30. I'm just like any other 19- or 20-year-old in the world.''
But the Heat has been encouraged by Beasley's more business-like approach as he enters a crucial period in his overall development.
''For six years prior to coming to the NBA, all he did was play in the paint and dominate,'' Heat president Pat Riley said. ``This is a different game now. He's got a Ron Artest-type, LeBron James-type body. He's a 3-4. He just needs to be taught specific skills. Take a look at Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. Where [are they] earning [their] money? Michael's got the same skills. We have a plan for him.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/basketball/
