LeBron James may have become public enemy no. 1 for a few years for joining the Miami Heat back in 2010, but it remains one of the best decisions he ever made in his career, purely from a basketball standpoint. The Cleveland Cavaliers just did not do a great job of putting talent around James, and if he had stayed, he probably would have never won a title.
LeBron teamed up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form a Big 3, but while many expected the trio to blow teams away, it didn’t happen at first. In fact, the Heat had a 9-8 record at one point after losing to the Dallas Mavericks, and Pat Riley revealed in the book The Soul Of Basketball: The Epic Showdown Between LeBron, Kobe, Doc, and Dirk That Saved the NBA, that after the loss, LeBron wanted him to fire head coach Erik Spoelstra.
“They just said, ‘We’re not feeling it,’ or something like that,” Riley told Thomsen. “We talked about the typical things that we have to do, have patience and all of that stuff.
“And I remember LeBron looking at me, and he said, ‘Don’t you ever get the itch?’ I said, ‘The itch for what?’ He said, ‘The itch to coach again?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t have the itch.’ He didn’t ask any more questions, and I didn’t offer any more answers. But I know what it meant, and I always go back and wonder about what he was thinking at that time. He walked out scratching his leg like it was itching.”
That sure was an interesting way for LeBron to get his point across, but Riley had no interest in firing Spoelstra and becoming the head coach. The Heat would, of course, go on to lose in humiliating fashion to the Mavericks in the NBA Finals that season but they would rebound by winning titles in 2012 and 2013. Spoelstra has now established himself as one of the best coaches in the league, but he has struggled to get the team going this season.
The Miami Heat Are Struggling This Season
For all of Spoelstra’s greatness, the Heat are off to a disappointing 13-15 start to the season. Charles Barkley went as far as to say that they need to blow up the roster and start over, while NBA insider Howard Beck said they just don’t have the firepower to compete in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat have been written off quite a few times, only for them to turn things around, and it wouldn’t be too big of a surprise if they do it again this season. They might have to make some moves for it to happen, though, as this roster does have some holes. They are interested in Cam Reddish, and we might hear more names being floated around as the Heat look for another deep playoff run.
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