There is no surprise that due to all of the athleticism and talent that praise in the NBA, great coaching often flies under the radar. And the Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is not an exception. Spoelstra has done an outstanding job, from his defense-first mentality to commitment to small-ball. However, overshadowed by his trio of superstars, coach Spoelstra seems to rarely receive credit for the Heat’s success.
It can be said that it is impossible to fill Pat Riley’s Italian leather shoes. It’s even more difficult to do so when the world’s best player wishes the other guy would come back and coach. However, eventually, coach Spo has proved that he belonged and pulled off one of the most stunning coaching ascensions the history of the NBA, going from The Dungeon to the end of a title-winning bench.
Many find it tough to separate his success from LeBron’s. The Heat eventually made the Finals after having started 9-8 out of the gate in their first season. They won championships the next two seasons. Winning with superstars isn’t as simple as we may think and it is even downright daunting to keep them happy at the same time convincing them to take unprecedented sacrifices. It is a full-blown pressure cooker but Spo managed to pull it off, putting LeBron, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade in the right spots as well as creating lineups around them to maximize their potential.
Many assumed the jig was up for Spoelstra when LeBron left. They thought that he would be exposed as just another coach without the King. However, Spoelstra kept the team competitive, even though he had been left with a pretty meh hand. The Big Three played .500 basketball the last five seasons and remained a tough out on a nightly basis. With the arrival of Jimmy Butler this year, South Beach came back to be the home of a basketball powerhouse once again, with mix-and-match lineups pushing the limits of positionless basketball and leading to the best winning percentage (.631) since LeBron was around.