How much does Erik Spoelstra love Air Jordans? ‘I’m like the coaching version of P.J. Tucker’
It doesn’t take long for those around the Miami Heat to learn about coach Erik Spoelstra’s love for Air Jordans.
“His Jordan collection is really up there,” Jimmy Butler said following one of his first practices as a member of the Heat in 2019. “He comes in with a different pair of Js every day. I’m impressed.”
P.J. Tucker, who is known as the NBA’s Sneaker King, also immediately noticed Spoelstra’s passion for Air Jordans after signing with the Heat this past summer. So Tucker gifted Spoelstra two rare pairs from his own collection just before the start of the season.
“I haven’t had a coach wear Jordans like Spo,” Tucker said, with the Heat opening a six-game trip on Monday night against the Boston Celtics. “That’s why I had to get him some. I saw he likes Jordan 3s. I was like, ‘I got some size 12s, let me grab these from my collection.’ I just had some size 12s I traded for. I was like, I’m going to grab them for Spo.”
Spoelstra runs practices and shootarounds in Air Jordans, has become accustomed to coaching games in Air Jordans since coaches around the league ditched the suits, and even wears Air Jordans to formal events like Chris Bosh’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
How many pairs of Air Jordans does Spoelstra own?
“I’ve got a lot,” Spoelstra, 51, said to the Miami Herald matter of factly. “I’m like the coaching version of P.J. Tucker.”
Spoelstra’s love for Air Jordans dates to his college days at the University of Portland in the late 1980s and early 90s.
“I was in college and I had a pair of Jordan 3s and they were my favorite. I wore them out,” Spoelstra remembers. “Then for over a decade, nobody was wearing Jordans so I didn’t wear them. But I decided I would get back to wearing shoes I enjoyed wearing. For me, it has always been Jordan 3s and 4s.”
Spoelstra’s collection grew when Quentin Richardson joined the Heat in 2009 and Juwan Howard signed with the Heat in 2010. They both had inside connections that helped Spoelstra get his hands on certain styles.
Spoelstra’s wife, Nikki, also gave him custom-designed Air Jordans for their wedding in 2016.
“I wore those on the dance floor at my wedding and I wear them on special occasions,” Spoelstra said.
Spoelstra’s Air Jordans have already left an impression on Tucker.
“He knows what he likes,” Tucker said. “He wears like all the clean, smooth ones. He doesn’t get too crazy. He wears the classics.”
But the biggest compliment came when Tucker labeled Spoelstra as the NBA coach with the best sneaker style.
“Right now, I don’t see nobody messing with him,” Tucker said. “He brings out some stuff. He really does.”
HEAT’S CLUTCH OFFENSE
A clutch game is defined as one that has a margin of five points or fewer inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.
By looking at the Heat’s win-loss mark in clutch games, it appears to be one of the NBA’s best teams in those situations. Miami entered Monday with an impressive 15-9 clutch record this season.
But that success is largely because the Heat’s defense has been dominant in those late-game situations, as it owns the league’s fifth-best defensive rating in the clutch with 98 points allowed per 100 possessions.
However, the Heat’s clutch offense has been shaky. Miami holds the NBA’s fourth-worst clutch offensive rating this season, scoring 98.2 points per 100 possessions.
The Heat has shot 37.9 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from three-point range in clutch situations.
In Saturday’s triple-overtime home loss to the Toronto Raptors, the Heat shot 34.3 percent from the field, 7 of 18 (38.9 percent) from three-point range and attempted just one free throw in 20 clutch minutes.
“The first OT and the second OT, we had great looks and they just didn’t go in,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “You got to live with that. It’s one of those things where you wish you could be like, ‘Oh man. Just go in the hole so we can get the game over with.’ But that’s not how it works.”
In the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and the final two minutes of each of the three overtime periods on Saturday, nine of the Heat’s 12 shot attempts came from beyond the arc. Miami shot 4 of 12 from the field, including 3 of 9 on threes, during those stretches.
Heat guard Tyler Herro took the most combined shot attempts in the final two minutes of regulation and the final two minutes in each of the three overtimes, finishing 2 of 8 from the field and 1 of 6 on threes during that time.
“It is what it is. You make some, you miss some,” Herro said. “You can’t let it affect you. ... My number will be called again and I’ll make it.”
When asked about Herro’s late-game shots on Saturday, Butler added: “It’s a make-or-miss league. We talk about it all the time. We want him to take those same shots and stay aggressive.”
INJURY REPORT, SILVA BACK
The Heat will be without Butler (right big toe irritation), Kyle Lowry (personal reasons), Markieff Morris (return to competition reconditioning), KZ Okpala (right wrist sprain), Victor Oladipo (right knee injury recovery), Tucker (left knee irritation) and Omer Yurtseven (health and safety protocols) on Monday against the Celtics.
The Heat signed center Chris Silva to another 10-day contract on Monday as a COVID-19 replacement with Yurtseven in protocols. It marks the fourth consecutive 10-day deal that Silva has signed with the Heat, as Miami has dealt with continuous COVID-19 issues for the last month.
This story was originally published January 31, 2022 at 11:14 AM.
