Erik Spoelstra made some interesting statements on how he approaches the NBA Finals and how experience has helped him to deal with such a competitive series.
The head coach of the Miami Heat explained the differences between now and his first NBA Finals appearance with the franchise back in 2011, calling fighting for the championship an ‘extremely difficult challenge’.
“All the experiences are different. You want to be fully present for the team and what is happening right now. I’ve said this during this playoff run: The more experience you have, the more perspective you have about how difficult this really is.
“These are extremely difficult challenges. You end up being even more grateful for the opportunities to compete at the highest level. That’s what we all want. This is the stage that you want to be able to compete and have everything decided between those four lines and find out how your team stacks up. But it is tough. It’s tough going through the gauntlet of three rounds to get to this level.
“Then when you get to this level, it should be what it is. It’s the highest level of competition. Our guys thrive in that. They love it. Even after games like last night, our guys love to compete and put it all out there,” Erik Spoelstra told media on Thursday.
Erik Spoelstra has been with the Heat since 1995, first as video coordinator and then as an assistant coach. He took over Miami in 2008 and has appeared in six NBA Finals (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2020, 2023), winning the title twice (2012, 2013).
En route to the NBA Finals, Miami eliminated three teams who finished higher than them in the East standings and became just the second No.8 seed in league history to reach the Finals. They now trail the Finals 2-1. Game 4 is on Friday in Miami and Game 5 is Monday in Denver.
