LeBron James on Erik Spoelstra: ‘I believe our relationship is going to continue to grow’: NBA News
Miami Heat super star LeBron James recently gave his vote of confidence to head Coach Erik Spoelstra in a detailed interview. LeBron only came to the Heat last summer and said he enjoyed a productive first campaign with Erik.
Erik Spoelstra is one of the youngest coaches in the NBA. When the Heat assembled an all star cast in the summer which included LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, many questioned whether Erik could handle the challenge in front of him. Balancing playing time and responsibilities of the three super stars was by no means an easy feat.
There were also question marks about whether Spoelstra would be able to make his mark in a dressing room containing such huge egos. Bosh was the franchise player and perennial All Star while at the Toronto Raptors, Wade is a former NBA Finals MVP and LeBron is probably the best player in the league, all three are alpha dogs.
Spoelstra though did a very good job as he moulded the Heat into a unit. The players did not at first grasp many of the new concepts and even the play of their new teammates, but with Spoelstra’s guidance Miami came through a lot of testing times and looked in good shape heading into the playoffs.
Although Spoelstra had a lot of resources available to him, the young coach still deserves credit for his side making it into the Eastern Conference Finals. They beat the mighty Boston Celtics on the way and destroyed Chicago Bulls’ dream of making the NBA Finals once there.
At the final hurdle though, they fell against the veteran Dallas Mavericks, but Miami and Spoelstra have every reason to be proud of what they achieved in just their first season together. LeBron had supported Erik all the way and the two time NBA regular season MVP did not change his point of view afterwards.
When asked whether his relationship with Spoelstra was now like the one he had with Mike Brown, his head coach at the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron responded by saying it wasn’t there yet but it was certainly on the way.
“I think it’s different right now because I had five years to develop it (with Brown). Me and Mike Brown went to so many playoff series, so many days together… I had five years with Mike Brown. That was my first year with Spo and I believe our relationship is going to continue to grow.”
Spoelstra certainly proved himself to be a talented coach last year and as time passes there is no reason why his relationship with LeBron, and overall record with the Miami Heat, won’t continue to improve.
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