McDaniel sides with Heat over his hometown Nuggets in Finals
MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel has become a fixture courtside at Kaseya Center for Miami Heat playoff games throughout their magnificent run to the NBA Finals as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
But the Heat’s next foe, beginning with Thursday night’s Game 1, is the Denver Nuggets. And McDaniel is a Colorado native.
Ask McDaniel where his allegiance for the Finals stands, and he’ll take you through a lengthy monologue that leaves you unsure which way he’s leaning for a couple of minutes before the big reveal like Lee Corso on ESPN’s “College GameDay” at 11:59 a.m. on a fall Saturday.
But after the long deliberation — and minus the headgear of Heat mascot Burnie — McDaniel settled on siding with Miami’s professional basketball team on Wednesday ahead of the Dolphins’ organized team activities session open to the media.
The connection McDaniel, who has a similar but different path as Erik Spoelstra to his head coaching start, has built with the Heat coach and organization over his past 16 months was the determining factor.
“Realistically, when it comes down to it, the stuff that I’ve been able to really get access to with the Heat coaching staff led by Spo last summer,” McDaniel said. “Getting to know them, following their journey and getting to know the people, I’ve become extremely invested. So, I don’t lose any sleep by saying you know what, Denver Nuggets, why don’t we wait 48 years? Not 47.”
And McDaniel knows how many NBA seasons the Nuggets have gone without a title because that was his team growing up as a native of Greeley, Colorado, which is roughly 60 miles northeast of Denver.
“I was born and raised in Denver and cheered for the Nuggets forever,” he said, citing a comical memory. “I had a fan plan in 1994. They packaged games, and we picked the package that (Michael) Jordan was going to play — and he retired. It was my mom’s entire bonus. So, yeah, I’ve been invested, and they’ve had a really cool journey. It’s a cool franchise.”
The decision for McDaniel is tough enough that he compared it to the Kelce family ahead of the most-recent Super Bowl, with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis the victor over Philadelphia Eagles and his brother center Jason.
McDaniel’s admiration for Spoelstra’s coaching prowess, as he now makes his sixth Finals appearance as a head coach with another as a Heat assistant, runs deep.
“I feel so humbled to be able to have the relationship,” McDaniel said. “I think what screams to me, just the way he runs the program, and what they do is there’s a passion for developing players and coaching and a standard for what they believe should prepare their players. I feel a true love for who they’re coaching and what they’re coaching.
“Systematically, when people describe the Heat culture, they’re talking about a bunch of individuals that are trying to be great in the game of basketball, players and coaches alike. I feel so fortunate. I think he has to be one of the best professional coaches across all sports. For me to have access to pick his brain — he throws me a handshake after wins — it’s an unbelievable resource for me in the coaching profession that I feel very, very fortunate to have.”
The Dolphins, while going through OTAs the past two weeks and wrapping up their offseason workout program next week with mandatory minicamp, have been inspired by the championship-round runs by both the Heat and Florida Panthers, who begin the Stanley Cup Final at the Las Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
“How cool is that for South Florida sports just in general, just riding the 2023, but specifically the Heat and the Panthers doing a lot of things that people said they couldn’t do, which I very much appreciate and we are definitely taking note,” McDaniel said last week at the Dolphins’ first OTA session open to the media.
On Wednesday, McDaniel also made sure to note at the conclusion of his news conference that the 2023 South Florida postseason success also started — not only with the Miami Hurricanes and FAU Owls reaching the men’s college basketball Final Four — but Nova Southeastern winning the Division II title.