Heat-Spurs represents a Team USA reunion for Adebayo, Spoelstra and Popovich
For most involved, the Miami Heat’s preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night represents just another opportunity to prepare for the regular season. But the matchup carries some extra significance for Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and center Bam Adebayo.
Spoelstra helped Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and his Team USA staff prepare for the Tokyo Olympics this summer as the head coach of the select team. And Adebayo, who was held out of Friday’s game for rest purposes on the second night of a back-to-back in the preseason, was on the Team USA Olympic roster that won a gold medal in August with Popovich leading the way as the national team’s head coach.
“It was an amazing basketball and life experience,” Spoelstra said in advance of Friday’s preseason reunion with Popovich in San Antonio to close a back-to-back set that began with Thursday’s 113-106 win over the Houston Rockets. “I’ve admired Pop, like everybody in this business, for years. To be able to see him behind the scenes in that setting was like a Master’s class in coaching and also human being relations. It’s amazing how he makes everybody feel like they have a role, that they matter and he has a great way of making the entire room feel inclusive.”
For Adebayo, he had the unique opportunity to learn what it’s like to play for Popovich. Adebayo, 24, was Team USA’s starting center during its gold medal run in Tokyo.
“The hilarious [expletive] is what I call him,” Adebayo said with a laugh. “He’s one of those people, he’ll make a joke in the moment. He’s one of the coaches that keeps it light every once in a while just to let us know to have fun, go out there and hoop.”
Adebayo said he now views games against the Spurs as a friendly battle for “bragging rights.”
From a coaching perspective, Spoelstra said his biggest takeaway from working with Popovich during the national team’s training camp in Las Vegas is “his brilliance is being able to read people, read teams and read what’s needed at that moment.”
Spoelstra and Popovich faced off on the NBA’s biggest stage in the 2013 and 2014 Finals when the Heat and Spurs met in the championship series. But Spoelstra said not even that shared experience compares to the up-close look at Popovich he was privy to this summer.
“I’ve always felt like as an organization, we felt honored that we were able to share that competitive stage with that franchise and all those great people on that side for two straight years in the Finals,” Spoelstra continued. “We’ve always looked at them with great respect and admiration for how they do things. I’m thrilled for Pop and his staff and the team that they were able to overcome everything and finish with the gold. It was just an honor to be a part of it.”
Team USA is now looking for Popovich’s successor, and Spoelstra has been mentioned as a potential candidate because of his impressive NBA resume and recent ties to the USA Basketball program. Spoelstra, 50, had not worked with Team USA before his time as the select team’s head coach this summer.
“No, I haven’t,” Spoelstra said when asked if he has thought about the possibility of filling that position. “I have enough on my plate right now just trying to get this team [the Heat] up and running to think about that. That has taken up the majority of my time. I loved my experience with USA Basketball and would love to be a part of it moving forward.”
Adebayo believes Spoelstra has the qualities to fit the role.
“He lets the talent be talent. He doesn’t try to overcoach us,” Adebayo said. “I feel like you need that with the Olympic team because you got so many guys that come from teams where they’re the No. 1 option and you got like six or seven No. 1 options on the same team. It’s kind of hard to coach that. So the fact that I feel like Spo would let us figure it out and let talent be talent, I feel like it wouldn’t be a hard coaching job for him.”
THE BAM-LOWRY CONNECTION
When point guard Kyle Lowry landed with the Heat this offseason, the belief was that he would help elevate Adebayo’s offensive game. Through two preseason games, that has already proven to be true.
Of Lowry’s 17 assists to open the preseason, five of them have resulted in easy baskets for Adebayo — three dunks and two layups.
“It’s easy when you got somebody like him, an All-Star, All-NBA guy, super-talented,” Lowry said. “It’s really easy for me to just go out there, put the ball somewhere and he can go get it. It’s not even about like forming a connection. It’s just understanding and respecting and knowing how good he really is. He makes himself look good and he makes me look really good.”
Spoelstra added: “I think Kyle has really been intentional of trying to give Bam some easy looks and easy catches around the rim. It didn’t take Bam very long to figure it out in this training camp: If you run, you’ll get the ball and you’ll get easy opportunities. Bam has a great feel and understanding for the game, as well. So usually high IQ players will figure it out in a short period of time.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 1:04 PM.
