Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is as underrated as they come. His former player Dwyane Wade can attest to this after being under coach Spo for 10 of his 16 seasons in the league and 2 of his 3 titles.
Speaking with Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, the retired NBA superstar turned analyst made his case for why the Asian-American head coach should get more recognition that what he gets at the moment.
“He doesn’t get enough credit,” Wade shared. “But you guys know, Spo don’t care about the credit. He doesn’t care at all. But I mean, you look around the league. I know he’s in Miami and he has been kind of raised through it. But if he was losing and he wasn’t a good coach, he wouldn’t still be there. We know Pat Riley. We know Pat Riley is cutthroat. He would not still be there. So to be able to give him that grace period to kind of learn as a young coach, it was definitely beneficial. But he has taken that and he has run with it.”
Judging by his resume alone, coach Spo is indeed one of the brightest minds in the sport today. But for some reason, his name doesn't carry as much clout as championship-winning coaches like Gregg Popovich or Steve Kerr. The Heat bench boss is also still one of the youngest coaches in the game at 49 years old. Yet, his name is usually left out of the conversation of the best in the league, as the spotlight usually focuses on Coach of the Year winner Nick Nurse of the Raptors and Celtics' head coach Brad Stevens.
The two-time NBA champion tactician, however, doesn't seem to mind flying under the radar. Erik Spoelstra has out-coached everyone in the postseason so far and is a big reason why the Heat have only lost once in 11 games.
If the Miami Heat steal the title this year, maybe then we'll put more respect on Erik Spoelstra's name.
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