Dooling returns ... as coach that got away

Former Heat guard, Dillard grad a Jazz assistant

Erik Spoelstra said he saw it coming and yet also was caught off guard.

Keyon Dooling arriving to AmericanAirlines Arena on Friday as a Utah Jazz assistant coach made all the sense in the world to the Miami Heat coach. It also made Spoelstra wonder why he hadn’t thought of it first.

“He’s just an incredible mentor [and] leader,” Spoelstra said. “And that translates to coaching.”

Although he spent only the 2004-05 season with the Heat, when they advanced to the Eastern Conference finals, Dooling’s tenure coincided with the embryonic stages of Spoelstra’s coaching career.

“I was so young at that time too,” Spoelstra said. “He was a young guard. Those were some of my favorite years in the NBA, being an assistant coach, working for Stan [Van Gundy].

“Those teams were a lot of fun. And he was part of one of the most memorable teams that we’ve had — and it didn’t even go to the finals. But he and I spent a lot of time that year behind the scenes.”

All the while Spoelstra was taken by the outgoing, engaging personality of the Fort Lauderdale native and Cardinal Gibbons and Dillard High product.

“The one thing I do know about Keyon is you knew then he was a star personality, an absolute superstar as a human being,” Spoelstra said. “And [I] just really enjoyed being around him.

“He was like one of the great teammates. Everybody loved him in the locker room. Everybody loved playing with him.

“He’s funny, but he’s super intelligent [and he] understands things at a deeper level. I think it just totally makes sense. I think it’s an awesome story.”

The story is particularly unique because Dooling played under Jazz coach Quin Snyder at Missouri in 1999-2000 before being drafted at No. 10 by the Orlando Magic in 2000.

“I think he’s a star. I think he’s made for coaching,” Spoelstra said. “But it goes back to that relationship with Quin, all the way back in Missouri. I think that’s a really cool story, that they’ve kept in touch.”

The irony is that Spoelstra currently has a staff that includes former Heat players Chris Quinn, Malik Allen, Caron Butler and Anthony Carter.

“Shoot,” Spoelstra said, “I’ve kept in touch with Keyon over the years. If I knew he was going to get into coaching, then we could have come after him before.

“But I think it’s great that’s with Quin. I think it just makes a whole lot of sense. He’s going to help a lot players.”

Dooling, who had been working as a player counselor with the National Basketball Players Association after his 12-season NBA career ended in 2013, jumped at the opportunity offered by Snyder in September.

“I told him I was in the next day,” Dooling, 40, told the Deseret News. “It was just something that I had to jump at, something that I had been yearning for.

“When Quin called and he asked me if I had interest, I had to look at the phone and pinch myself because it was like, ‘Wow, this is really happening.’ ”

Snyder said the fit has been as anticipated.

“One of the great assets that Keyon has is the years that he’s played in the league and the situations he’s been in competitively within the construct of a team,” Snyder said, according to that piece in the Deseret News. “I knew when he came on board how good he was, and he’s surpassed even my expectations.”