Tag: Erik Spoelstra

LeBron James says Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks helped Miami reach new heights

LeBron James. Chip Kelly. Erik Spoelstra. How the three combined to create an NBA Championship offense.

Chip Kelly and the NBA is like a puzzle piece that doesn’t quite fit.

But Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was able to put a round peg in a square hole as LeBron James said.

According to the NBA legend and future Hall of Famer, Spoelstra, a Portland native and Jesuit High School graduate, took a page out of Chip Kelly’s book when he was with the Oregon Ducks, and used philosophies in Kelly’s spread offense to help unlock a new level with the Heat at the start of their title run.

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James said in a recent interview that Spoelstra came back to his home state and studied Kelly’s spread offense that changed the landscape of college football back in 2011.

“Spo is the reason why we were a better team, and our team was assembled more properly,” James told J.J. Reddick on a recent episode of Uninterrupted. “That summer, he went to Oregon and hung out with Chip Kelly, and learned the spread offense.”

Miami lost to Dallas in the previous season and James said Spoelstra’s goal was to study the Ducks’ spread offense and translate that to the professional basketball game. At this point in time Oregon was having great success on the field, having just made it to the national championship game against Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers, and Kelly’s offense was changing the landscape of college football.

Spoelstra hoped to glean some of the tricks from that, and translate them to the basketball court.

“I don’t know the super conversations that he and Chip had,” LeBron said. “But when he came back to us, he knew that in order for us to reach our potential, for one, I had to be *expletive* ten times better than I was in that previous June Finals. But Chris Bosh had to go to the 5, and had to start working on his corner three.”

Moving Bosh out of the paint allowed James to drive more to the hoop for easy buckets, get fouled, or both. This spread the floor in a way that allowed playmakers space to move and cut without the ball, much like Kelly’s offense opened up running lanes for the likes of LaMichael James, Kenjon Barner, and De’Andthony Thomas.

The strategy also worked for Miami, as they went on to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder for the championship the following season, and repeated the next year against the San Antonio Spurs.

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Heat coach Erik Spoelstra explains what Sixers are getting with Kyle Lowry

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra explains what the Philadelphia 76ers are getting with Kyle Lowry.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers made the move in the buyout market to bring in Kyle Lowry after he was waived by the Charlotte Hornets. Lowry began the season with the Miami Heat before he was moved to Charlotte in January in the Terry Rozier trade.

In his 18th season in the league, Lowry is averaging 8.2 points and 4 assists while shooting 38.5% from deep. He will bring his toughness and veteran know-how to Philadelphia and look to help it reach its ultimate goal in his hometown, but the question is whether he has enough left in the tank to do so.

Before the Miami Heat knocked off the Sixers, 109-104, on Wednesday, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra gave his thoughts on Lowry and what he brings to Philadelphia.

“He’ll bring a lot of veteran leadership and he still has talent,” said Spoelstra. “I said it when we made the move, I think I said it when we first acquired him, the thing about Kyle is you evaluate him based on how the team does and basically everywhere he’s been for the last decade-plus, he’s been able to impact winning for organizations and he did that for us. The results speak for themselves.”

Lowry made some contributions for the Heat on their run to the finals in 2023. He made big plays in the postseason and did a number of big things for Miami off the bench, but he is 37 years old. It is fair to wonder if he will be enough to help the Sixers right now.

“We didn’t accomplish our ultimate goal, but there were a lot of playoff wins and he had a big part in all of that, and more than anything, I’m just grateful that I was able to develop that kind of relationship with him,” Spoelstra added. “I really enjoyed our time working together and collaborating. It’ll be a good fit here. He’s back home and working with a coach that he’s very familiar with.”

While Lowry may not be the same All-Star player he used to be, the Heat saw him bring veteran leadership to Miami. Maybe that will be his biggest contribution to Philadelphia.

“Leadership, the competitive toughness … and the playoff experience,” Spoelstra finished. “He’s been able to win in the playoffs. He has a bunch of playoff games under his belt and he knows how to impact winning for sure.”

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NBA Twitter reacts to Erik Spoelstra’s eight-year, $120M extension with Heat: ‘From video coordinator to most committed coaching money ever’

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to Erik Spoelstra signing an eight-year extension with the Miami Heat.

Erik Spoelstra has signed an incredible eight-year, $120 million extension with the Miami Heat, per Adrian Wojnarowski.

According to the same report, it is the most committed coaching money in NBA history. Spoelstra has already coached the Miami Heat since 2008 and has now signed an extension that’ll keep him in South Beach until 2032.

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the biggest news of the night.

LeBron James shows love to Erik Spoelstra after massive contract extension

LeBron James gave Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, his old coach, his flowers after receiving a big contract extension.

On Tuesday evening, it was reported that longtime Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra received an eight-year, $120 million contract extension from the organization.

While definitely a massive extension, many believe it isn’t outlandish. Spoelstra has long been considered one of the NBA’s best coaches, if not the best coach in the league.

He has won two world championships and has been to six NBA Finals since he took over during the 2008-09 season. A big reason for those numbers is he maximized LeBron James contributions during James’ time with the Heat.

The 39-year-old Los Angeles Lakers superstar gave his old coach his flowers while saying Spoelstra is worth every single cent of his new extension.

In the four seasons James and Spoelstra were together, Miami reached the championship series each June. These days, the latter has a different group that is an underdog rather than a front-runner, yet it still finds a way to be in the title mix more often than not in the end.

Podcast: Key takeaways as Rockets, Rafael Stone answer media questions

Rafael Stone wants the #Rockets to watch and learn from the 2023 playoffs, and today’s @TheLagerLine explores the key themes — starting with organizational culture and alignment.

Monday’s episode of “The Lager Line,” sponsored by Clutch City Lager of Karbach Brewing, explores the key takeaways from recent interviews involving general manager Rafael Stone, head coach Ime Udoka and other members of the Houston Rockets.

Hosts Ben DuBose and Paulo Alves explain why Stone’s remarks on Udoka’s role in personnel decisions should be taken as a promising sign, along with the importance of Houston’s draft and free agency decisions being made independently of one another. The show also offers insight on Udoka’s rumored hires for assistant coaches.

Finally, the episode dives into the NBA Finals between Denver and Miami and themes potentially relevant to the Rockets. Topics there include the role of Erik Spoelstra’s Heat culture and whether the evolution of superstar big man Nikola Jokic with the Nuggets can provide a template for Alperen Sengun and the Rockets to follow.

Monday’s podcast, which is sponsored by Clutch City Lager of Karbach Brewing, can be listened to in its entirety below. Each episode is also made available via flagship radio station SportsTalk 790 and all major podcast distributors under “The Lager Line.”

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Miami’s Erik Spoelstra on Joe Mazzulla’s head coaching job: ‘His care-factor is through the roof’

Heat coach Erik Spoelestra offered strong praise for rookie head coach Joe Mazzulla ahead of Game 1 the 2023 Eastern Conference finals.

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has enjoyed tremendous success in his first year as head coach in the NBA. He and the Celtics were one of the league’s top team’s all season long, and are a few wins away from another Finals appearance. Standing between Boston and a shot at a banner, sit a familiar foe, the Miami Heat.

The Celtics and Heat are now dueling in a third Eastern Conference finals showdown in four seasons. And though Boston is heavily favored in the series, it’s hard to count Miami out from the jump. They are savvy, tough as nails, and on quite the eight-seed is on a real Cinderella run. Throw in one of the Association’s most respected head coaches in Erik Spoelstra, and the Heat have more than a puncher’s chance.

Spoelstra famously worked his way up the ranks, serving as an assistant and video coordinator for the team before earning the role of head coach at the age of 38. Now one of the league’s top minds, Spoelstra is a massive asset for this Heat team’s chances in the 2023 postseason.

Ahead of Game 1 between Boston and Miami, Spoelstra was asked about Joe Mazzulla, what it’s like to be a young coach in the NBA, and more.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra gives his thoughts on Sixers firing Doc Rivers

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra gives his thoughts on the Philadelphia 76ers moving on from coach Doc Rivers.

The Philadelphia 76ers have moved on from Doc Rivers after three seasons on the job following another second-round exit. Rivers was 154-82 in three seasons in Philadelphia, but he wasn’t able to guide the Sixers out of the second round in any of those seasons.

It isn’t necessarily his fault. In 2021, they had to deal with Ben Simmons passing up a critical dunk late in the Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. In 2022, James Harden and Joel Embiid were dealing with injuries. In 2023, Harden and Embiid weren’t able to deliver in Game 7.

However, that’s just the nature of the business and the coach will get the blame most of the time. Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra gave his thoughts on the Sixers moving on from Rivers:

It’s disturbing. Doc’s a Hall of Famer. That’s what Andy (Elisburg) always says, too, you get past the first round, there’s gonna be some really good teams. Great players, great organizations, great coaching staff. They’re going to lose just by the nature of this beast. There’s only so many teams that can advance. It’s just a really hard thing to do. Yeah, it’s been a tough couple of weeks hearing the news of some just really surprising firings.

Spoelstra is right about the firings around the league. It’s understandable because it is the way this business goes. The coach is always the first one to go when things go wrong, but Rivers did a lot of great things for the Sixers during his time here.

The same goes for the likes of Mike Budenholzer with the Milwaukee Bucks and Monty Williams with the Phoenix Suns. Those two, like Rivers, did a lot of great things for the teams they coached. It’s hard to win in this league, but it will be interesting to see how Philadelphia handles its coaching search to replace Rivers.

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Heat coach Erik Spoelstra gives his thoughts on James Harden, Joel Embiid

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra offers up his thoughts on Philadelphia 76ers stars Joel Embiid and James Harden.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers are hitching their title hopes to stars Joel Embiid and James Harden for good reason. The two have been an elite duo all season. Their chemistry allows them to play off each other very well.

The Miami Heat saw the duo up close in the 2022 Eastern Conference semifinals, albeit both teams were hobbled with injuries. The Heat ousted the Sixers in six games.

After having a full training camp and a full season under their belt, Embiid and Harden look to take the Sixers to new heights. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra can see the duo taking the next step.

“More continuity, more time together,” Spoelstra said of the duo. “People think you can put together teams and it’s automatically going to work. You have to take time and work through a lot of different things that a long NBA season can provide you.”

Spoelstra knows a thing or two about how important continuity is for a team. He has coached superstars Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Jimmy Butler and others. It doesn’t happen overnight. It always takes time.

As the Sixers prepare for the 2023 playoffs, they will need Embiid and Harden to be at their very best to reach the mountaintop in this very talented league.

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Heat coach Erik Spoelstra not surprised to see Sixers sign Dewayne Dedmon

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra can see why the Philadelphia 76ers brought in big man Dewayne Dedmon.

MIAMI — Dewayne Dedmon has not played for the Philadelphia 76ers since he was picked up in the buyout market, but when he does get on the floor, the idea is he will provide size off the bench behind Joel Embiid.

Dedmon has been sidelined by left hip tightness. When he is able to get back at it, one has to figure that he will get an opportunity to play for this group (unless Paul Reed has anything to say about it).

Before signing with the Sixers, Dedmon played 30 games for the Miami Heat. He played 113 games for Miami across three seasons and he provided minutes for them off the bench before he was sent to the San Antonio Spurs and subsequently waived.

“Dewayne’s a pro,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “We really enjoyed our time with Dewayne. He was really important for us when we first signed him and then last year, when he was healthy, he gave us great minutes, and fit who we are. He’s tough, he’s physical, and he’s a great defensive voice. He can really communicate well.”

Dedmon shot 40.4% from deep in the 2021-22 season for the Heat, albeit on 0.7 attempts per game mostly as a trailer in transition. One has to wonder how much he has left considering the plantar fasciitis he had at the beginning of the season and the hip injury now, but his size and toughness are obvious reasons why the Sixers signed him.

“You can see why they signed him,” Spoelstra added. “He’s another guy with presence in the paint with size, but he’s a really enjoyable guy. He’s a really funny guy behind the scenes. Most people don’t get to see that side of him, we did, and that was probably one of the pleasant surprises of developing that relationship and seeing his humor.”

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