Malik Allen expected to be hired as Heat assistant coach. Here’s what to know
It looks like the Heat will turn to one of its former players to fill out Erik Spoelstra’s coaching staff.
With Juwan Howard moving on to become the head coach at the University of Michigan, a league source confirmed that Malik Allen is expected to soon be hired by the Heat to fill Howard’s spot as an assistant coach on Spoelstra’s staff.
Allen, who turns 41 on June 27, spent this past season as an assistant coach with the Timberwolves, and he remained on Minnesota’s staff this offseason even after a coaching change was made from Tom Thibodeau to Ryan Saunders.
Allen, a 6-10 forward who spent the first three-plus seasons of his 10-year NBA playing career with the Heat after signing with Miami in 2001 as an undrafted free agent, also spent four seasons (2014-18) as an assistant coach with the Pistons under former Heat coach Stan Van Gundy.
Allen is a logical choice to fill Howard’s spot with the Heat seemingly in need of an assistant coach who has NBA playing experience as a big man and/or experience coaching big men.
Once Allen is officially hired, the Heat’s coaching staff under Spoelstra would include assistant coaches Dan Craig, Chris Quinn (also director of player development), Octavio De La Grana (also a player development coach) and Allen, video coordinator/player development coach Eric Glass, player development coach Anthony Carter and shooting consultant Rob Fodor.
But there have been discussions within the organization about making Glass the coach of its G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Glass served as the Heat’s summer league coach last year, and just completed his ninth season with the Heat and his second under the title of video coordinator and player development coach after originally joining the organization as a video room intern in the summer of 2010.
Allen would become the third member of the Heat’s coaching staff with NBA playing experience, joining Quinn and Carter. But Quinn and Carter were both guards.
“The most important thing is building relationships with your players,” Allen said this past season to the Bucks County Courier Times of serving as an assistant coach. “I’ve pretty much always had good relationships with them. With your coaches, it’s about the work and making sure everybody’s contributing and always looking to improve and get better because this business comes down to wins and losses and [if you] can your get guys better.”
Timberwolves All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns said of Allen to the Bucks County Courier Times: “He’s an amazing coach, a great mentor. He’s been doing a great job with us. With his NBA experience, it always great to have a coach who recently [played and] understands how the game is played.”
THE WADE MEMOIR
Former Heat star Dwyane Wade, who retired at the end of this past season, has a memoir coming out this fall.
William Morrow announced Wednesday the book is titled “3 Dimensional.” Pre-order links for the book has it being released on Oct. 22, which is also opening night of the NBA’s 2019-20 season.
The memoir, which is by Wade and written with collaborator Tim Reynolds, will feature more than 100 never-before-seen photos from Bob Metelus, according to a press release. Coinciding with a documentary on Wade, the press release calls the book “the definitive inside look at the life and career of one of the sport’s biggest stars.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2019 at 10:51 AM.
