Everybody has to start making a name for themselves somewhere. For players like Dwyane Wade, that’s usually in college, where fans and NBA scouts familiarized themselves with his game long before he got to the league. For coaches, it can be an uphill battle to earn respect, but Wade’s old coach, Eric Spoelstra, has done things the right way, rising from an unknown to one of the best coaches in the game today.
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It’s hard to believe that Spoelstra has now been an NBA head coach for 17 seasons and counting, because it seems like only yesterday that he was the new kid on the block. Now we look at him and see a guy who has won two rings and reached the Finals four other times, but back then, it felt like the Heat had lost their minds for giving the gig to such an unproven guy.
Most NBA fans can remember wondering, “The Heat hired who?” back in 2008, and they weren’t alone. This was two years before LeBron James and Chris Bosh took their talents to South Beach, making Dwyane Wade Miami’s best player by a wide margin.
Wade was on Pardon My Take this week, and he shared that although he had a great relationship with Spo, even he couldn’t believe he had been hired as head coach. “When he first got the job, I was like, ‘What are we doing?'” Wade said.
The Heat’s bold gamble with Spoestra
The legendary Pat Riley had coached the Heat before he handed the keys over to Spoestra. So Wade’s shock was understandable. Miami had won a title with Riley on the sidelines just two years earlier. The win was the. team’s first but Riley’s fifth as a head coach. To go from someone who had earned his place on coaching’s Mt. Rushmore to an unproven guy in his mid-30s was a bold move.
Despite the skepticism surrounding his hire, Spoelstra has gone on to become one of the best ever to do it. He reached four straight Finals as the leader of the Heatles. He later reinforced his rep by taking two undermanned Heat squads to the Finals. Even though the Big 3 had been long gone.
Along with Riley, the NBA named Spoelstra one of the “15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History” in 2022. Wade’s genuine reaction when he found that out was nothing but love.
“Yeah, I’m smiling,” he said from the set of the NBA on TNT pregame show when he heard the news.
Wade said on PMT that young coaches need to be given a good staff, and space and time to learn from their mistakes. That’s exactly what Riley gave Spo. “Pat let everybody know that, ‘You will get out of here before he leaves,’ Wade said. Riley’s faith in his protege was well-founded, and Spo put the work in to be great.
The NBA often draws criticism for recycling the same coaches, but other teams have found success following Miami’s model. Last year, the Celtics won the title with Joe Mazzulla, whom they hired as an unknown in 2023. Thunder GM Sam Presti gave OKC’s Mark Daigneault room to grow. Now he has the team one game away from a ring.
