Erik Spoelstra gives his thoughts on fatherhood and the Knicks’ firing of David Fizdale
Erik Spoelstra is back with the Miami Heat on Friday for its game against the Washington Wizards after spending one game away for the birth of his second son.
Nikki Spoelstra, the coach’s wife, announced the birth of Dante Nicholas Spoelstra on Thursday with an Instagram post.
“My wife and I are thrilled. Everybody’s healthy. Everybody’s at home,” the coach said. “Thank all the well wishes from everybody out there.”
Spoelstra spent Wednesday away from the Heat, leaving assistant coach Dan Craig to fill in on the sidelines for Miami’s 112-93 loss to the Boston Celtics in Boston. It marked only the second time in his career Spoelstra missed a game, joining the one game he missed in 2018 for the birth of his first son.
The Heat was off Thursday and didn’t practice after traveling back to Miami from Boston, so Spoelstra rejoined his team Friday for its 8 p.m. tipoff against the Wizards at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“It’s been a crazy 48 hours to say the least,” Spoelstra said, “but we’re all home and the house is a little bit louder than it was before.”
Spoelstra reacts to Fizdale firing
The New York Knicks’ decision to fire coach David Fizdale wasn’t altogether unsurprising. Just last month, general manager Steve Mills and president Scott Perry held an impromptu press conference to express their frustration with the Knicks’ horrible start. Unofficially, Fizdale was placed firmly on the hot seat.
Still, Spoelstra was disappointed to hear the news Friday. The two coaches came up together as video coordinators in Miami and Spoelstra calls Fizdale one of his closest friends in the NBA.
“It’s disappointing. I’m bummed about it,” Spoelstra said. “Fiz obviously is someone very dear to me. I just think he’s an extremely talented coach.”
Fizdale wasn’t the only coach with a Heat tie ousted in New York on Friday. The Knicks also fired assistant coach Keith Smart, who as an assistant of Spoelstra’s with in Miami from 2014-2016. Both Fizdale and Smart were less than halfway through their second seasons in New York.
He’s naturally biased, but Spoelstra believes the Knicks pulled the trigger too quickly.
“They had a very good coaching staff up there. Things just take time in this league,” Spoelstra said. “It’s really unfortunate they they weren’t given the time to really do some work. There’s a lot of rolling up your sleeves that has to be done there and you have to build a foundation and build a culture and standards and that’s tough to do when you don’t have time.”
Injury update
Justise Winslow missed his 11th game of the season Friday because of a lower back strain. A back injury also robbed the point forward of a pair of games earlier in the season.
The Heat listed Winslow as questionable on its injury report Thursday and Spoelstra still said he was questionable earlier Friday. He went through Miami’s walkthrough before being ruled out shortly before tipoff.
The Heat was already shorthanded against the Wizards with as guard Goran Dragic, wing Dion Waiters and small forward KZ Okpala were all out. Waiters, who has still not played this season, was out because of an illness, while Dragic missed his third straight game because of a right groin strain. Okpala is still battling a right Achilles tendon strain, which has kept him out since the third game of the season.
The injuries left Miami with just 11 available players. Kendrick Nunn was the only true point guard available for the Heat.
This and that
▪ Tom Thibodeau, who coached Jimmy Butler with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves, was in attendance as a guest of the star wing.
▪ Two upcoming Miami games were moved from 8 p.m. to 7 p.m. because of changes to TNT’s schedule. The Heat’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers was next Friday in Miami and its game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 18 in Philadelphia will both begin an hour earlier than originally scheduled. Additionally, TNT dropped the Heat’s game against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday from its schedule, but added a game between Miami and the Celtics next month.
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 6:43 PM.
