Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra helped LeBron James win his first ever career NBA championships. As a result, the pair’s partnership is widely regarded as a success in most basketball circles.
One would think that when Spoelstra looks back on his time with James, he would do so with no regrets at all.
Not so.
This week, during NBA All-Star Weekend festivities, Spoelstra opened up about one particularly big one that continues to weigh on his mind.
Erik Spoelstra puts LeBron James’ latest All-Star season in context and why he wishes he played LeBron some at center when he was with the Heat pic.twitter.com/Pw7fP7RLjg
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) February 19, 2022
“He’s played the center this year, and I really feel remiss about that. If I knew he was willing to play center, I would have done that 10 years ago,” Spoelstra said.
“We played him 1 to 4 anyway. Might as well put all the chips in just have him play all five positions.”
James is currently averaging 29.1 points in his new role for the Los Angeles Lakers – his best scoring output since the 2009-10 season with the Heat.
It’s worth remembering, James has always been very blunt about the impact Spoelstra had on his career.
“I’m not gonna sit up here and act like I don’t know what Spo is all about,” he said a while back.
“Cause he’s damn good, if not great. He probably is great because of his preparation. He prepares like it’s his last time ever coaching again every game, and I know that.”
Yikes. https://t.co/FwdgMv9YJK
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 21, 2022
There’s a reasonable case to be made that Spoelsta is actually the most underrated head coach of his generation. Hopefully at some point in the near future he starts getting the credit he deserves not only as a strategist, but as a leader of men.
Related: NFL Reporter Annie Agar Apologizes For Controversial Tweets
Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
