“You don’t want Riley” – Dwyane Wade shockingly admits he stopped LeBron James from FIRING Heat HC Eric Spoelstra to avoid playing under Lakers legend
Dwyane Wade reveals how he persuaded LeBron James to play Erik Spoelstra as their coach and avoid playing under Pat Riley.
Follow Us
LeBron James, Erik Spoelstra and Dwyane Wade (via nba.com)
When Erik Spoelstra was first hired for the position of the Head Coach of the Miami Heat after legendary coach Pat Riley decided to step down, Spoelstra made an impact as soon as he took the position by helping the team make the playoffs, where the Atlanta Hawks eliminated them. Following the season, Miami signed LeBron James and Chris Bosh before the 2010 season.
The signings put immense pressure on Spoelstra, as he was only in the second year of his head coaching career. After a rough start to the regular season, where they started 9-8, there were talks about LeBron trying to get Spoelstra fired from his job. He even intentionally shoulder-bumped Spoelstra after they lost a game to the Dallas Mavericks. LeBron’s former teammate Dwyane Wade talked about this situation on an episode of Club Shay Shay with Shannon Sharpe.
D-Wade talked about how he warned LeBron that he would not like Pat Riley coaching the team. Wade, who had played under Riley from his rookie year until the year Riley stepped down and won a championship with him, clearly knew what he was talking about. He also said that while Spoelstra did not have championship experience, LeBron did not want the Godfather to coach him.
“You don’t want Riley to coach you. You don’t want Riley coaching this team, bro,” Wade said. “And even though Spo was not experienced, we needed a coach who was experienced and could win championships. We were going to help him; you don’t need the Godfather coming back,” he added.
How did Erik Spoelstra change LeBron James’ perception about him?
In 2010–11, during Erik Spoelstra’s sophomore campaign as Miami Heat head coach, his team started out 9–8 at season’s onset. However, Spoelstra, who nearly got canned, led a resurgent campaign to close with a 54–28 record. In the playoffs, the Miami Heat reached the NBA Finals, where they were defeated by the Dallas Mavericks and while he did make it to the Finals, LeBron James had arguably his lowest playoff outing in his career.
The team rebounded the next season, winning the league and defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in convincing style in 2012. In 2013, they had an even better season, logging 66 wins and the second-longest winning streak ever in the NBA, going 27 straight for the streak.
That showed off Spoelstra’s coaching ability and confirmed to LeBron he was the right choice. They defeated a very tough rival in the 2013 Champion, winning back-to-back. However, they fell short of winning the 2014 Finals against San Antonio with LeBron and his Heat, which culminated in LeBron splitting from Miami and Spoelstra.
In Case You Missed:
- “Nobody would care if Kobe disagreed with them” – Kings star De’Aaron Fox makes extremely DISRESPECTFUL Kobe Bryant claim
- “And you say Ja Morant is a thug?” – Shannon Sharpe shockingly claims he wanted to BEAT 71-year-old Skip Bayless, NBA fans call out hypocrisy
Do follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Follow FirstSportz on WhatsApp Channel
Stay Updated!
Ritvik Malhotra
(1085 Articles Published)