Miami Heat: Is Erik Spoelstra Finally Going To Win NBA Coach Of The Year?
Injuries have plagued the start of the 2021-22 season for the Miami Heat. Head Coach Erik Spoelstra has juggled consistent lineup changes and has dealt with a lack of true star power since the start of December.
Despite the constantly shifting rotation players, Miami finds itself atop of the Southeast Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference. Although he coached the Heat to five NBA Finals appearances in the 2010s, Spoelstra has never been recognized as NBA Coach of the Year.
Miami Heat legend, Pat Riley, is currently the only coach in franchise history to be voted as the COY. Could this be the year Spoelstra attains the honor?
The closest Spoelstra has come to being voted as the winner of the honor was in 2017. He has won other iterations of such awards, but never the NBA’s.
Successfully adjusting to a ton of injury to Miami Heat core players, is Erik Spoelstra a Coach of the Year candidate? Signs point yes, but History doesn’t.
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The NBCA, National Basketball Coaches Association, awarded their first version of the Coach of the Year award to Mike D’Antoni and Coach Spoelstra. Coach D’Antoni lead the team with one of the best records in the league, while Spo led a miraculous mid-season comeback for the Heat.
While the Warriors’ Steve Kerr and the Suns’ Monty Williams are certainly the frontrunners for the NBA’s version of the award at this point in the season, Spoelstra can throw his name into the ring if Miami continues their winning ways without their best two players active.
The Heat are currently three and a half games behind the Brooklyn Nets for the best record in the East. If they are able to keep pace with the Conference’s top seeds, there should be no doubt that Spoelstra is deserving of another COY nomination.
If the Heat are able to catch their Eastern Conference adversaries in the standings, Spoelstra should, indeed, be in line for his first win at the award, while also priming for, yet another, deep playoff run.
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Though the hope is that he brings home the trophy awarded to the league’s best-voted coach, the deep playoff run part is the one that means the most. That’s something that both Coach Spo and Heat fans have grown to enjoy under his coaching tenure.