Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is now 5th all-time in coaching NBA playoff wins. The Filipino American moved up the rankings after the Heats win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, which secured the team a place in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The decisive game was also Spoelstra’s 100th playoff victory.
The no. 8 seed Heat defeated the no. 1 seed Bucks in the first round playoff series 4 games to 1. The upset was fueled by huge performances from the Heat’s Jimmy Butler.
Spoelstra has coached championship-winning teams before. However, many people have credited his success to his teams’ rosters. His wins in 2012 and 2013 were with players like Lebron James, Chris Bosch and Dwayne Wade.
In 2020, when the Heat once again made a surprisingly deep playoff run, players insisted that “Spo” deserved more respect.
“There’s this narrative that Spo is not great, and the narrative that he doesn’t get a lot of respect, which he should,” Lebron James said in 2020 interview with USA Today. “He prepares his team every single night. If you watch the Miami Heat, no matter who’s on the floor, they’re going to play Heat culture. They’re going to play hard. They’re going to play together. That’s what he’s always been about.”
His current players have echoed James’ comments. Bam Adebayo admitted in an April 2023 interview with the Athletic that there are moments when he and Spoelstra “clash.” Despite those moments, Adebayo says players still respect Spoelstra.
“That’s the wizardness of Spo,” Adebayo said. “He just gets guys to buy into his coaching style. He makes guys believe in his system, and he makes guys believe in being better than what they thought they were.”
Spoelstra and the Heat will face the New York Knicks on Sunday at 10 a.m. ET for the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
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