Erik Spoelstra Kept Miami Heat Basketball Alive
Most NBA fans wrote off the Miami Heat before their 2016–17 run even officially began.
Because surely, the upcoming season couldn’t be a pretty picture. The one-two punch of Dwyane Wade leaving for the Chicago Bulls and Chris Bosh being ruled out indefinitely alone, was enough to seal Miami’s fate. Nevermind president Pat Riley being unable to close the deal with Kevin Durant, instead being forced into signing a slew of bench warmers to one-year deals.
If the Heat thought 2014–15 was rough, having lost LeBron James to the Cleveland Cavaliers, they were about to be in for a rude awakening. Forget just barely missing the postseason. Miami would be lucky to avoid finishing last in the league, period.
Heat Nation and rivaling supporters alike seemed to have forgotten the notion of Miami Heat Basketball. These doubters overlooked all the fundamentals of South Beach entirely. It didn’t cross their minds that Riley never goes into anything without a plan. Or that the organization still held onto two great leaders in Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside. And they certainly didn’t get the memo about what head coach Erik Spoelstra brings to the table.
Which has seemingly been a common theme, up until now.
While Spoelstra may not necessarily fit the exact mold of an underdog, his talent has grossly been undervalued. With two championships to his name, this may be hard to believe. But when it’s all said and done, it’s pretty hard to compete with the Big Three.
Nevertheless, Spoelstra is finally getting some much deserved attention, the possibility of winning Coach of the Year well within reach. And you better believe the man deserves it. Taking a team once so banged up it only had three players left on the bench to playoff contention, is no easy task.
Something that Dragic himself is keen on spreading the word on.
But Spoelstra isn’t paying mind to COY. At least not yet. For now, his only goal is to see his guys make the postseason. Because he knows what his team is capable of. And what it takes to get them there.
So just like he ignored the noise when Miami was struggling, he’s ignoring it now that they’re on the rise.
Because at 35–37, eighth in the Eastern Conference, there’s still work to do.
Which is how a team that houses seven Developmental League alums and was 11–30 just a few months ago, is now only ten games away from officially clinching a playoff spot.
For Spoelstra, the work never stops.
But it is more than just pure grind that makes him worthy of COY.
The confidence he has in his players is equally as important.
Take Dion Waiters, for example. A one-of-a-kind shooter, who has always felt elite, even among greats like James and Durant. Crazy? Maybe. But he built Waiters Island from the ground up. With his own two hands. The strength to do so coming from self-assurance. An impressive feat that Spoelstra admired.
And so, once Waiters arrived in South Beach, the population on Waiters Island was suddenly no longer one. The belief he had in himself was finally matched.
“Coach believes in me and wants me to be great,” Waiters said. “He always is telling me things and he’s on me hard a lot. I’m the type of guy, I need that.”
Waiters has been great, too.
Averaging 15.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists a game this season, the shooting guard is putting up numbers that on their own, would catch anyone’s eye. But his impressive turnaround this year is about more than just statistics. It’s also about the type of plays he’s making. Clutch plays.
Has the 25-year-old always had this potential inside of him? Probably. But without someone to back them, his skills were simply going to waste. Ultimately, it took a guy like Spoelstra to know exactly how to develop Waiters into a reliable asset.
Which is very similar to what happened with Hassan Whiteside.
The big man was overlooked by the NBA time and time again, eventually causing him to end up playing in China and Lebanon. It was not until the Heat took a chance on him that he finally was able to enter the league, and furthermore stick around.
Averaging 16.8 points, 14.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per contest, Whiteside is a center transformed. An accomplishment that’s in no small part, thanks to Spoelstra. He took the 27-year-old from merely a guy with size, to a star who dominates on both ends of the court. So much so, that now he’s breaking franchise records.
What’s even more impressive however, is that Whiteside isn’t even chasing his statline lately. Because he no longer feels he has anything to prove, Whiteside is able to put the needs of the team first and foremost. And has made winning, not making headlines, his priority.
“You get all those numbers to win,” Whiteside said. “As long as we get the winning result, that’s all I care about.”
Spoelstra does more than just help take care of players’ athleticism though. He cares for them as people, before focusing on anything else. Which in turn, trickles down to how team members treat one another. Tyler Johnson may have signed a four-year, $50 million contract, while Okaro White makes roughly $100,000 on the year, but it doesn’t matter. Everyone is treated with the same level of respect. This team is as close to blood as it gets.
Heck, James Johnson didn’t almost end Taurean Prince for nothing.
Who would have thought such a team of so-called misfits, would turn out to share such a deep bond?
Spoelstra, of course.
That’s how he conducts his ball club. Even if others might not understand it.
“Usually those are teams that everybody wants to show how good they are,” Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of teams containing one-year contract guys. “They don’t care about the team.”
Not this group.
“Spo is one of the best coaches I’ve ever played for,” Rodney McGruder said. “How he’s in tune with us on and off the court, that’s what makes a coach great. Asking how you’re doing, the little things in life that players really appreciate.”
Whether or not Spoesltra snags COY, what he has done in Miami this year is incredible.
A man of his word, he certainly has practiced what he’s preached by not letting go of the rope.
