Emerging assistant gets new duties
Glass will lead Heat’s summer league teams in Sacramento and Las Vegas.
MIAMI — Eric Glass’ ascension on the Heat bench will continue this summer.
The Heat confirmed Glass will lead the organization’s summer league teams in
Sacramento and Las Vegas this year. The 34-year-old Glass follows in the footsteps of Heat assistant coaches Chris Quinn, Juwan
Howard and Dan Craig as head of the team’s summer program —
Quinn coached the Heat’s summer league team last year, Howard led the summer program in 2016 and
Craig coached the summer rosters from 2013 through 2015.
Who is Glass? He just completed his eighth season with the Heat and his first under the title of video coordinator and player-development coach after originally joining the organization as a video-room intern in the summer of 2010.
Glass had player-development coach added to his responsibilities last offseason, but he’s been the Heat’s video coordinator since 2013. Head coach Erik Spoelstra also worked as Miami’s video coordinator during his climb up the organizational ladder.
“Eric Glass behind the bench. If you don’t know
who he is right now, write an article about him,” Spoelstra said in March. “He’s going to be a head coach. He’ll be the next in line of David Fizdales, Pat Delanys, Dan Craigs to come out of the video room and get on the staff.”
Glass, a California native, already has some summer league experience. He served as an assistant coach for the Heat’s summer league team in each of the past two seasons, including taking the reins during Quinn’s absence in the first game of the 2017 Orlando Summer League to attend Gordon Hayward’s free-agent meeting in Miami.
The Heat’s summer tour begins in the newly formed Sacramento summer league, which will feature four teams (Kings, Lakers, Warriors and Heat). Miami will arrive in Sacramento on June 28 for four days of practice before playing games on July 2, 3 and 5.
The Heat will then move on to play in the Las Vegas Summer League, which will take place from July 6-17 at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion on UNLV’s campus.
The Heat will tip things off in Vegas at the Cox Pavilion on July 7 at 5 p.m. against the Pelicans’ summer league team. Miami will play three opening-round games (vs. Pelicans on NBA TV; July 8 vs. Hornets at 5 p.m. on NBA TV; July 10 vs. Jazz at 4:30 p.m. on ESPNU).
After those three preliminary contests, each team will be seeded in a tournament that begins July 11 and concludes with the championship game July 17.
Miami doesn’t own a draft pick this year, so its summer league team could be full of undrafted players unless the Heat buy or trade for a pick.