Do you feel as though head coach Erik Spoelstra is overlooked by the league?
Leniart: I don’t think so. I think he is still widely regarded as one of the top five coaches in the NBA today. Some people might feel that he is overlooked because he has been out of the spotlight in the wake of the LeBron James era in Miami. While that is true, I don’t think his value in the eyes of other NBA coaches and executives has diminished at all. Spoelstra finished third in the voting for the 2017 NBA Coach of the Year award. During that same offseason, the National Basketball Coaches Association held their inaugural awards show, in which Spoelstra and Mike D’Antoni tied for Coach of the Year.
Eyrich: Yes and no. Spoelstra never gets the credit he deserves. He’s in a hard situation with his success coming in The Big Three era. Naturally everyone gives credit to the talent on the court rather than the system that got them there. While I still think he’s a great coach, he wont be considered for a Coach of the Year until he finds success with the roster he has now.
Rahming: I believe my answer to the previous question gives away which camp I live in when it pertains to Spoelstra, so there’s no going back now. I do believe that to gain national media attention, teams must have one of the following be true about its organization: MVP candidate, Rising Star/MIP candidate, be a contending team, or have a flashy style of play that’s exciting even if you lose. Unfortunately, the Heat have none of those things going for them. The closest things the team had to any of these things in recent history was the historic run in the 2016-17 season, which resulted in missing the playoffs and the rise of Hassan Whiteside. As much negative attention as the media gives to Whiteside, some of his fall off is coaching and schematically induced by Spoelstra, so he took a hit in the national media again.
Mora: This is a tough question. Yes and no. I think the league does realize that Spoelstra is a great coach that has proved himself as a top coach in the East, but remains under the radar as well due to the successful seasons the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, and the Cleveland Cavaliers have had. With James out of the East this year, he might get more recognition, but the Indiana Pacers are in it as well and we can’t forget about the young Philadelphia 76ers that ousted the Heat last year. All those franchises have more recognition and are Eastern contenders. If the Heat remains in a lower 6-8 seed in the playoffs, then, unfortunately, Spoelstra will continue to be overlooked.
Johnson: Spoelstra had the benefit of coaching the most notorious NBA team for four seasons. With that came scrutiny of how effective he is, and whether James was really the puppet master behind his coaching ability. Now, it’s four years later and Spoelstra is still in charge and has gotten recognition from his peers and colleagues. Within basketball circles, I doubt there is any understatement on Spoelstra’s talent. But with Miami lacking the mass appeal it once had, wider audiences are more likely to misunderstand Spoelstra’s impact, now more than ever.