MIAMI — Inside his Miami Heat office, Rob Pimental stands at his workstation, navigating another lengthy 12-hour shift. The team’s director of operations focuses intently on his oversized monitor, crafting travel arrangements while a partially finished salad sits beside his keyboard.
Behind his chair sits a mobile IV pole. A transparent pouch containing dialysis solution rests on the floor nearby.
“Hey, don’t mind that,” he tells a guest, gesturing toward the medical equipment and tubing near his feet.
For almost twelve months, this setup has defined Pimental’s daily routine. After living with Type 1 diabetes for approximately three decades, his condition deteriorated significantly last spring when his kidneys started declining and his blood pressure began climbing dangerously. He has spent months on waiting lists, hoping for both kidney and pancreas donations.
The life-changing phone call could arrive within days or might not come for another year. The timeline remains completely uncertain.
“We’ve all just kind of wanted to rally around him,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We support him as much as possible, but also we let him know, one, we love him, and two, we really appreciate everything that he does and that he’s still able to do it, despite everything.”
April marks National Donate Life Month, making the cause especially meaningful for Miami’s organization. Alonzo Mourning, the franchise’s legendary Hall of Fame player and current vice president for player programs, received a life-saving kidney donation in 2003. His experience has provided crucial guidance for Pimental during this challenging period.
“That’s a big thing, having Zo around me all the time,” Pimental said. “He’s been through this and just to have him come in and walk me through some steps I didn’t understand and then just be there if I have a question, it means something. Sometimes he walks in and he’s like, ‘Man, you look good today. You good? You feeling good? You look good.’ That means a lot, because he knows what I’m going through.”
The veteran equipment manager, among the NBA’s most experienced in his position, was absent from Monday’s team flight to the play-in tournament. Air travel with the squad has become impossible this season, marking the most significant adjustment to his responsibilities during his 15-year tenure in Miami.
His routine now includes self-administered dialysis sessions twice daily, along with increased dependence on fellow Heat employees and his staff members. Former Heat players Kyle Lowry and Kevin Love provide regular encouragement and humor through frequent check-ins, helping him maintain his demanding schedule.
“It’s meant a lot because he’s meant so much to us, as a mentor, as someone we look up to, as someone who has put so many years into this league,” said locker room manager Marvin Ulysse, who reports directly to Pimental. “I felt like it was our duty to get him through this journey. He’s a big brother to us. We’re like his human dialysis in a way.”
Despite his inability to accompany the team on road trips, Pimental maintains his effectiveness. When issues arise during away games, he resolves them remotely from his residence. His workdays remain demanding, though he now enjoys increased time with his spouse and children compared to previous years.
Nevertheless, frightening moments occur regularly. He frequently awakens during the night, frantically checking his phone out of concern that he missed the crucial call announcing available organs. The uncertainty creates constant anxiety, particularly regarding his family’s future should his condition worsen.
Despite these challenges, he maintains optimism each morning.
“Dialysis is working, I’m still here,” Pimental said. “Just like somebody said to me awhile back, you’ve got to learn how to string as many good days together as you can so when that one bad day comes, you can handle it. And that, I think, is what we’re doing right now. The Heat have been very, very supportive throughout this whole thing. But to be honest, the only motivation I need is my wife and my kids. To be here for them, that’s the only motivation I ever needed.”
