Erik Spoelstra - Dead Coach Walking

In a scenario extremely reminiscent of 2005, the spectre of Pat Riley looms over the Miami Heat bench. This time, caught in the crosshairs is young Erik Spoelstra, a young coach whose players are openly questioning and debating whether or not he should be on the bench of the Miami Heat.

Flashing back to 2005, Stan Van Gundy (who you may recognize as that Ron Jeremy look-alike wandering about NBA sidelines) was the head coach of the Miami Heat. In the previous season, he brought an injury ravaged team to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the eventual champion Detroit Pistons. In a situation widely thought to be orchestrated by Riley, Van Gundy abruptly resigned from his position as head coach on December 12, 2005, stating that he wanted to spend more time with his family. In response to the 'unforeseen' and 'unexpected' departure of the coach, Riley 'reluctantly' came down from his elevated position as president of the Heat, and promptly led the team to it's only championship.

Fast forward to 2008. Riley once again resigned as coach of the Heat, and elevated another assistant, Spoelstra, to the head coaching position. Once again, in his first two seasons, the coach brought the team into the playoffs. Following the same script, Riley brought in several players (Shaq in 2005, Lebron and Chris Bosh in 2010) in an attempt to win a championship. Continuing the parallel, the team has started off slowly (10-8 at the time of this post).

However, here is the difference: the players never questioned Van Gundy's ability. LeBron James has openly questioned Spoelstra's coaching acumen. When asked about his coach, Dwayne Wade stated “He’s a different person and I’m a different player than when we came in." Wade then continued, “So, I’m not going to say he’s my guy, but he’s my coach, you know. Right now, in my opinion, no one is doing a good job, we’re 9-8. We’re all in this together. Players not doing a good job; coaches not doing a good job. As a whole. When success comes, we win as a whole. We win four in a row, Coach is going to look great.” Nothing quite like having your coach's back, right? I wonder if those two took their directions right from Brutus's playbook as he stabbed Caesar.

James has repetitively stated that he is not 'having fun this year'. Perhaps I missed the point, but isn't professional sports supposed to be about winning championships or getting paid, based on your outlook? Didn't James state that the reason why he was 'bringing his talents to South Beach' was to win titles? So what if the coach is demanding that you stop goofing off and actually do something, for example - practice the plays and defense, at an actual practice? Last time I checked, LeBron, for all his talents, is not Allen Iverson in his prime and does not have nearly .0001% of the heart, guts, and determination Iverson had. LeBron is a spoiled child who is used to getting his way, and doesn't like that Spoelstra is calling him out for it.

As such, the Heat are literally on the brink of outright mutiny. Spoelstra is trying to put out all the fires he can, but that's hard to do when wearing gasoline pants in a flame filled room. Even though Riley states that he has no intention of coaching this team, don't be surprised if you see him at a Miami area orphanage looking for an infant to give Spoelstra so that he can 'spend more time with his family'. The inmates are running the asylum in South Beach, and it's a matter of time before they get the warden that are demanding.