Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Spoelstra reflects on pitch to Durant
Effort valuable despite its result, coach says
OAKLAND, Calif. — It was the longest of long shots. Except coach Erik Spoelstra said that isn’t the Miami Heat mindset. Because what the Heat pitched on July 3 in New York’s Hamptons would have put an entirely different face on the game six months later against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena.
When it came to Kevin Durant in free agency, the Heat thought they had a chance. Until they didn’t. Which is why Durant stood as an opponent in the first of two meetings against Golden State.
“We’re all wired to think that we always have a chance,” Spoelstra said of the Heat approach. Miami was the final suitor in July to woo Durant after the AllStar forward had taken meetings with the Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder, his former team.
As he prepared to coach Tuesday with his team at the bottom of the NBA standings and Durant’s at the top, Spoelstra reflected back on the events in July. Spoelstra was there for the pitch to Durant alongside Heat owner Micky Arison, Pres-
ident Pat Riley, CEO Nick Arison, general manager Andy Elisburg and Alonzo Mourning.
“You could absolutely sense he wanted to be part of something great,” Spoelstra said of Durant.
Less than 24 hours after meeting with the Heat, Durant committed to the Warriors, to be part of this Bay Area colossus alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala.
“I walked away like everybody in that meeting, and just walked away really, really impressed,” Spoelstra said as the Heat prepared for their game Tuesday. “Big fan before I met him. That was the only time I had ever met him. Bigger fan after that, even after he chose Golden State.”
When the Heat met with Durant they had re-signed Hassan Whiteside two days earlier and still were in negotiations with Dwyane Wade. The Sun Sentinel would confirm days later that Whiteside had agreed to reduce his contract had the Heat been able to sign both Wade and Durant. Such a gambit almost assuredly would have meant a selloff of point guard Goran Dragic.
The Heat’s roster for Tuesday night would have been, to say the least, dramatically different, as would have the Warriors’, since Golden State lost complementary players Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes, Marreese Speights and Leandro Barbosa in order to sign Durant.
Outside of the Clippers, who had even deeper cap issues, the Heat might have been the longest shot in the process; just getting a foot in the door was a testimony to their perseverance.
“It was our normal process of recruitment,” Spoelstra said of the session. “He was very impressive.”
The tack Spoelstra had taken in similar pitches had centered on putting forward a game plan to maximize possibilities and enhance productivity.
This one, however, Spoelstra said was different.
“You definitely aren’t reinventing his game, an MVP, always the discussion is the very best in the world,” Spoelstra said. “You just have to try to get one of those guys, not necessarily teach them how to be one of them. He knows how to be one of them.”
Spoelstra said he benefited from being part of the process. And then Durant moved on to bigger things, with Spoelstra left to this ongoing rebuild, six months later still impressed with what he heard on that early July morning.
“He really cares about the game,” Spoelstra said.
Based on what he’d seen of Durant as a teammate with the Thunder, Heat guard Dion Waiters said he could have easily seen Durant assimilate into the Heat system.
“K.D.’s a great person. He’s not one of those superstar guys that come with everything. He doesn’t need a lot. He loves playing basketball,” Waiters said after the morning shootaround Tuesday at the University of San Francisco.
“He’s cool. He’s so laid back. He doesn’t care about everything else that’s out there. He just wants to play and win. And that’s the only truth. I was with him for two years. He wants to win and just wants to play basketball.”