The Heat’s coach, Erik Spoelstra, has been suspended due…

December 30, 2023 Sports Gist Basketball 0

A person briefed on the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly about it said

Erik Spoelstra will be staying put with the Miami Heat for the forseeable future.

The Heat coach has agreed to a long-term extension with the team, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Spoelstra previously had only one year left on his contract.

The deal will reportedly keep Spoelstra in Miami through the 2024-25 season.

The extension cements Spoelstra as the steward of the future for a team he’s worked for since 1995, when he began as a video coordinator. He has since steadily risen through the organization under current team president Pat Riley.

Spoelstra is set to begin his 12th season as Heat head coach, making him the NBA’s second-longest tenured head coach. With Jimmy Butler on the roster, expectations might be as high for the team as they’ve been in a while.

The 48-year-old’s Heat career will always be defined by the LeBron James Dwyane-Wade run of success between 2010 and 2014, but he has overseen a team that has stayed fairly competitive in the years after James’ departure. The never-tanking Heat are 209-201 since 2014 despite being headlined by the likes of Hassan Whiteside and Goran Dragic, with two playoffs berths.

 

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Why Shaq ‘hates’ Michael Jordan’s banner hanging from the rafters in Miami

Shaquille O’Neal offered his opinion on league-wide jersey retirements on the latest episode of “The Big Podcast” this week.

The Hall of Famer, whose No. 32 jersey was retired by the Miami Heat in 2016, said he disapproves of the organization retiring Michael Jordan’s No. 23 and Bill Russell’s No. 6 due to the fact that neither played for the franchise.

“I hate the fact that they hang up other people’s jerseys,” O’Neal said. “I hope I’m not disrespecting anybody by this term.

“This thing is ours. This is what we built. Michael Jordan ain’t never play for the Heat. Bill Russell ain’t never play for the Heat. You did your own thing with your little Celtics family and Chicago family. But this Miami thing? I was one of the original championship families… this is our thing. So I don’t like that, personally.

The Heat are the only team aside from the Bulls who have Jordan’s No. 23 hanging from the rafters. As for Russell, the NBA retired his jersey number following his death in 2022.

O’Neal’s point is fair. When you gave everything you had to a organization and to its fans, it’s reasonable to be territorial.

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