Charles Oakley takes a shot at Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra – NBA News
Former NBA star and current Charlotte Bobcats assistant coach Charles Oakley launched a verbal attack against Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra in a recent interview. Oakley not only questioned the credentials of the young head coach,
but also said the Heat did not do a good job under him last season.
“A lot of teams have scouts and people in charge that never played basketball. That’s what they are going to. They’re going to guys who just do videos and work guys out and feel like they understand the game. They’ll find out it’s
not that easy. Miami found that out. The guy they got coaching, he was a good video guy under Pat Riley but, be real, this guy can’t coach.” Oakley said according to Hoopsworld.
Miami Heat promoted Erik Spoelstra from within the organization, rather than going out to look for a new head coach when Pat Riley moved into the front office. Spoelstra appeared to be a little out of his depth at times last season,
especially when the Heat struggled early on.
He did however recover along with Miami who finished the regular season with a flourish. Oakley though was left not at all convinced and argued that since Spoelstra isn’t really a basketball man, he is not fit to coach a basketball
team.
The Miami Heat acquired Chris Bosh and LeBron James last summer to form the new Big Three of Bosh, LeBron and Dwyane Wade. The Big Three on their own made Miami favourites against any team they might face on an NBA court.
Spoelstra, though, was given a lot of credit by some quarters in helping the super stars to gel and function as a unit. Still others thought that Miami never really did gel and point to their loss in the NBA Finals to the Dallas
Mavericks as proof. Oakley belongs to the latter group of people.
“They can say all they want. They brought three superstars together and they talking about, ‘Well, he did a good job.’ No, he did not do a good job… He smiles too much. He just, he don’t have it. He looks good on the bench.” Oakley
remarked.
Charles Oakley has never been one to hold back, out on the court or in front of a mike. In his playing days Charles was a “rough n tough” power forward who made his name playing for the likes of the Chicago Bulls and the New York
Knicks.
In his opinion, his time out on the court alone makes him a much more reliable authority on basketball than anyone like Erik Spoelstra, people who didn’t play the game at the highest level but find themselves in a position of power
nonetheless.
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