Heat braintrust key factor in frequent deep playoff runs
Much of the NBA has never experienced a deep playoff run, never suffered the pain or savored the exhilaration of a Game 7.
But for every key member of the Heat braintrust that anxiously awaited the tip of Game 7 on Sunday night, playing into late
May and June has become a fairly regular occurrence, a shared, cherished experience that bonds them forever.
Even Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — no longer part of the organization but multitime Heat champions — have reached out to Erik Spoelstra in recent weeks.
And peer over to the VIP table where Heat executives watch practice, and there’s one commonality:
They’ve all been here since the 20th century. They’ve all experienced, in some way, eight deep playoff runs over 18 years.
That longevity is shared by everyone with a seat at the table, from Micky Arison (majority owner since 1995) to team president Pat Riley (who arrived in 1995) to general manager Andy Elisburg (who was a public relations intern in the Heat’s first season in 1997) to CEO Nick Arison
(around the team since his childhood, including the past nine as CEO), to vice president/basketball operations Adam Simon (who arrived as a video room intern in 1995) to Alonzo Mourning (acquired in a 1995 trade with Charlotte and now in his 11th season as vice president/player programs).
Those with a seat at the table — which sometimes includes broadcaster/ executive Ruth Riley Hunter (the team’s basketball analytics/player programs manager and 2001-02 member of the WNBA’s shuttered, Heatowned Miami Sol) and longtime personnel executive Chet Kammerer (with the organization since 1996) — generally observe and talk among themselves, before making themselves available to offer counsel or encouragement or observations.
Spoelstra — whose 14 years as head coach of one team puts him second on the active list behind only the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich — usually visits with the table after practice but said it’s just to “BS.”
And even Heat greats who aren’t around remain involved.
Spoelstra said Wade sent him a bottle of wine early in the playoffs.
“Dwyane sent a bottle of his Wade Wine,” Spoelstra said. “I sent a note back saying I wanted the topshelf stuff, not the stuff that everybody gets. So, still waiting on that.
“What Jimmy [Butler] described about Dwyane [reaching out to Butler before Game 6 in Boston] is so perfect. Dwyane just knows when he’s not pestering you all the time. With me, it’ll be we exchange texts maybe every few weeks. But it’s always at the right time and it’s the right message. He has an incredible feel for that.”
Wade is now a minority owner with the Utah Jazz but still roots for the Heat unless the teams are playing each other.
Spoelstra values having Riley as a resource, but
said very little of their discussion is about strategy.
“Pat and I talk all the time,” Spoelstra said. “I’m not sitting at a desk taking notes. It’s constant dialogue. They’re not skull sessions like we’re watching video and a whiteboard.
“But I love those moments in between. I love it on the road. We just hang out in my suite sometimes with a bottle of wine and just kind of BS. Kind of
need some of that during the playoffs, and just not always be talking about, ‘What’s the scheme on this? And what’s the play we’re running?’ You’d be shocked how little Pat and I talk about that kind of stuff.”
And after practice is done — when the media usually is escorted inside — you will occasionally see Mourning counseling Omer Yurtseven and other players.
“It’s organizational
resources,” Spoelstra said. “You have a Hall of Fame center who is the face of the franchise [Mourning]. You see [Udonis Haslem] down there — our lifetime organizational team captain; all he wants to do is serve and help and guide different guys.
“We have one of the Mount Rushmore guys in coach [Riley] that has built team after team after team. He’s always here, available, just to offer a nugget of insight and wisdom for guys. That’s why we feel this culture is unique. You have a lot of people that just want to help, help the next generation.”
Mourning, for his part, appreciates his role and being available to Spoelstra or anyone who needs him.
“Hands down, [Spoelstra is] one of the best ever,” Mourning told CBS-4 and others recently after being inducted into Dolphins legend Jason Taylor’s community Hall of Fame. “He’s had some excellent teachers. His father, obviously, Pat Riley. He’s just utilizing what he’s been taught and he’s incorporating his knowledge of the game.
“And he’s created a masterpiece. He really has. And the beauty of it is that guys respond to him. One of the hardest things about coaching is to get 12, 15 guys — especially in basketball — to do what you ask them to do. You do it hard, you do it right.
“And Spo has the ability to do that, to get through to these guys and to get them to produce out there on the court.”
ANNOUNCER CHANGE
ABC/ESPN lead playby-play voice Mike Breen
tested positive for COVID and missed Game 7 of the Heat-Celtics series on ESPN, according to a network spokesperson.
South Florida-based Mark Jones, the network’s No. 2 NBA play-byplay announcer, filled in alongside Jeff Van Gundy
and Mark Jackson.
Breen feels fine and expects to be back for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday.