It is no secret that Dwyane Wade’s game reached new heights under the coaching of Erik Spoelstra. The Miami Heat head coach helped refine the Hall of Famer’s footwork, which later became instrumental in winning championships. Tim Hardaway Sr. expanded on this player-coach dynamic during the latest episode of All The Smoke podcast.
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Hardaway revealed that they often watched game footage together to fine-tune Wade’s footwork. The adjustments helped ‘The Flash’ constantly drive to the basket and steadily improve his gameplay. This old-school and meticulous approach further convinced franchise president Pat Riley of Coach Spo’s coaching prowess.
“[He is] somebody that’s gonna watch film with you and go over your game. He started with Dwyane Wade. He said, ‘Let me help Dwyane Wade.’ That’s what Dwyane Wade got a lot of his footwork from. Dwyane was good but some of his footwork, he needed to work on and Eric Spoelstra helped him out with his footwork. That’s when Pat Riley got more confident with Eric Spoelstra.”
Wade’s refined footwork soon became integral to his style of play. It complemented his agility and pace and also added a layer of unpredictability to his game. The improvements became evident during the Heat’s back-to-back championship wins in 2012 and 2013.
Despite battling injuries throughout those regular seasons, Wade remained the franchise staple. During this period, Wade averaged 21.6 points, 4.9 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game to help the Heat reach the playoffs. His impressive form carried over into the postseason too, where he averaged 19.4 points per game on 46% shooting.
These performances cemented Wade’s legacy among the greats of the game. He has consequently been grateful for Coach Spo‘s influence on his career and the Heat franchise. D-Wade even spoke about this during a panel on TNT’s Pregame Show, saying,
“I always say Pat Riley set the standard, but Coach Spo improved on it.”
This further pointed to Spoelstra’s remarkable resume as an NBA head coach. He is widely considered a frontrunner to succeed Steve Kerr as the next head coach for Team USA. As a result, all eyes will be on him and his strategies when the national team pursues its ninth consecutive gold medal in the Olympics four years from now.
