Good things happen to good people.
In the NBA's early days the board of governors wrote into its bylaws incentives for team owners to include on their rosters players from uncommon backgrounds or with unusual traits. It was part to gain publicity for the new league, part as genuine committment to "think outside the box" when composing a roster, part to counter the derelict management of teams by such as Donald Sterling who refused to pay for players and Pat Riley who refuses to fill open roster spots.
So yeah, that was the thinking. Midgets therefore, a midget was worth two games. The original Charlotte "Hornets" benefited from the "midget rule." Teams with a blind player were awarded three extra wins. Kazakhs, Cambria Countians, Kiribatans, Amish, a host of others, players with really weird backgrounds or from really weird places were worth a game. And so, yes, the "Heat" with Number Eight, a first-generation Amish, have been awarded one extra win as counter to Pat Riley who refuses to fill empty roster spots.
