The Miami Heat are coming off an amazing season where they reached the 2023 NBA Finals after finishing the regular season as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra deserves a lot of credit for it. Spoelstra is now viewed as one of the best coaches in the NBA. But when he first took the helm of the team as the head coach in 2008, Spo was apparently terrible. Dwyane Wade made the revelation to Shannon Sharpe in a recent episode of ‘Club Shay Shay.’
“I knew Spo. I had a great relationship with Spo because Spo would work me out, he’s my workout guy,” Wade said. “So, I liked Spo, but I didn’t know Spo as a coach. When he first go there, he was a terrible coach, but he was a great guy to prepare you. He was going to work his a** off.”
Wade added: “No one was going to outwork him. No one was going to be more prepared than him. He just had to learn when to call timeouts. What plays to run out of timeouts? All these things that you got to learn as a coach. As a star player I had to go to work with the coach and that’s why our relationship is what it is today.”
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Prior to becoming the head coach of the Heat, Spoelstra was already associated with the franchise for 11 years. He started out as an assistant coach in 1997 and worked his way up to the head coaching position.
Speaking of his first season as a coach, Spo led the Heat to a 43-39 record in the East. Wade finished the season with 30.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 7.5 APG, 2.2 SPG, and 1.3 BPG.
Dwyane Wade Addressed The Big 3 Of The Miami Heat Trying To Get Coach Spoelstra Fired After Their First Year
The 2011 Miami Heat lost 2-4 in the NBA Finals. It was the first year of the Big 3 of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
The three superstars apparently tried to get Spoelstra fired after the underwhelming performance in the 2011 NBA Finals. However, Pat Riley reportedly set them straight.
Many have chimed in to the rumor, and Dwyane Wade has become the latest person to do so. Wade cleared the air about the situation.
“I knew Coach Spo at the time, I mean the one thing when LeBron decides to retire, and talk about everything in his documentary, or whatever he decides to do about what we talked to do,” Wade said. “Riley as a coach vs. Spo as a coach, and one thing I told him was, ‘You don’t want Riley to coach you. You don’t want Riley coaching this team bro.'”
He added: “And even though Spo was not experienced, we need a coach that was experienced and can win championships, we’re going to help him, you don’t need the Godfather coming back.”
Pat Riley stayed rigid with his decision and it ultimately paid off for the Heat. After the 2011 NBA Finals meltdown, Spo led the Heat to back-to-back NBA Championships in 2012 and 2013.
In addition, the Heat also made it to the NBA Finals in 2014, 2020, and 2023 under Spo’s coaching. The only question remains is if the organization can win another NBA Championship.
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