Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Dragic speaks out
The guard says Erik Spoelstra is NBA coach of the year.
MIAMI — The Heat might have a problem on their hands when it comes to team policy about not actively campaigning for players for postseason awards — because one of their players is now politicking for their coach.
In a video posted Wednesday on the Uninterrupted social-media site, guard Goran Dragic pushed the candidacy for Erik Spoelstra for NBA coach of the year.
Spoelstra was named NBA coach of the month for February, at the time addressing the merits of Dragic for the February player of the month award that went to Cavaliers forward LeBron James.
Now Dragic has taken to the stump, with the Heat only once in their 29 years having a coach honored as coach of the year, Pat Riley in 1997.
Unlike many teams, the Heat have had a policy under Riley’s stewardship of not staging publicity campaigns for the NBA’s postseason awards.
“In my opinion,” Dragic said of Spoelstra in his video, “he should win coach of the year. Everybody knows how we started the season and how we’ve bounced back, and a lot of credit goes to Erik.
“He’s an unbelievable coach, and a lot of players, we love to play for him. He’s putting the guys in the right spots and that’s how the players can thrive under his system. And he’s such a great communicator with all the players.
“He’s going to challenge you — and try to be a winning a player and try to make winning plays. He’s always on top of you, trying to get better. It’s a privilege to play under him. We’ve still got a lot of games left, 11 games, so hopefully we’re going to make the playoffs.”
The video put Spoelstra in his most awkward position, of having to deal with public praise.
“I love these guys, and not because of that,” Spoelstra said of such support. “And I love Goran because he’s so pure, he’s a winner. He really took a chance coming here, to the Heat, to try to be something more, be pushed out of his comfort zone.
“Goran is a special guy, he really is. He’s one of the favorite guys in that locker room because he’s so pure and he’s a great teammate. All he wants to do is win.”
But when it comes to exacting revenge, Spoelstra said it is a no-win proposition with Dragic.
“I don’t know how I would punish that guy,” he said. “Like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to play 38 minutes.’ ‘OK, thank you.’ ‘You’ve got to do extra work tomorrow.’ ‘OK, thank you.’
“The only thing I could do is try to give him a day off. We call it, in between games, a ‘spa’ day, for guys that had long, big minutes. And he really gets upset when you say ‘spa’ day, he thinks you’re offending him and his work ethic.”
LeBron on Heat
Amid the possibility of the Heat’s first playoff series against James, a pair of ESPN personalities have released a book that includes reflections on James’ 2014 NBA freeagency departure from South Florida.
Included in “Return of the King” by Brian Windhorst and Dave McMenamin are references to the Heat’s concerns of reducing their exposure to the NBA’s luxury tax, and how James vetted suitors about being more willing to absorb such financial encumbrances. The Heat had utilized an amnesty clause to release James ally Mike
Miller a year before James’ departure.
There also was a reference to the Heat acquiring UConn point guard
Shabazz Napier in the first round of the 2014 NBA draft weeks prior to free agency to appease James.
“Riley would later criticize James for misleading the Heat when it came to Napier, who ended up being traded after one unsuccessful season in Miami,” the passage read.
Of Riley’s meeting with James in Las Vegas in July 2014 before the forward’s departure, the book notes the Heat’s acquisitions of
Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger days earlier, “Riley also talked about how he saw McRoberts and Granger, the new signees, fitting into the team alongside James’s favorite player in the draft, Shabazz Napier.”
Of that meeting that ended without resolution for the Heat or a decision from James, the authors write, “There were also indications the Heat felt James had already made up his mind and was attempting to make Riley grovel.”