Though LeBron James’ tenure with the Miami Heat was ultimately deemed a success, his four years there had their fair share of rocky moments as well.
Most of James’ obstacles in Miami came during his first year there when he Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were still trying to figure out how things would work. During that process, Miami opened the season 9-8 and there was controversy as to whether head coach Erik Spoelstra was the man for the job. According to President Pat Riley, LeBron actually “nudged” Riley to fire Spoelstra but luckily for Miami it never happened. Following from ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan:
In author Ian Thomsen’s new book, “The Soul of Basketball: The Epic Showdown between LeBron, Kobe, Doc and Dirk that Saved the NBA,” the normally reticent Riley opens up with a number of scintillating details regarding his relationship with James — including suggesting that in the infancy of LeBron’s tenure with the Heat, LeBron nudged Riley toward descending from the front office to replace coach Erik Spoelstra.
Riley revealed in the book that the day after the Heat’s loss to Dallas, he asked James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to meet him in his office for 10 minutes to check on how the team leaders felt the young season was progressing.
“They just said, ‘We’re not feeling it,’ or something like that,” Riley told Thomsen. “We talked about the typical things that we have to do, have patience and all of that stuff.
“And I remember LeBron looking at me, and he said, ‘Don’t you ever get the itch?’ I said, ‘The itch for what?’ He said, ‘The itch to coach again?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t have the itch.’ He didn’t ask any more questions, and I didn’t offer any more answers. But I know what it meant, and I always go back and wonder about what he was thinking at that time. He walked out scratching his leg like it was itching.”
Now one of the most esteemed coaches in the NBA and basketball in general, Erik Spoelstra and company would iron out the kinks and win two championships in back-to-back seasons. Though the greatness of James, Wade, and Bosh is well-known, Coach Spo played a huge role in LeBron’s first two championship rings.
Even today, LeBron James has yet to play under a coach of Spoelstra’s caliber since his Miami days. Spoelstra himself has done a stellar job keeping a Heat team full of largely rotational pieces relevant in an improved Eastern Conference, as they hope to make another playoff run this season.
