Two key members of Miami Heat coaching staff won’t be around team
Two familiar faces won’t be around when the Miami Heat begins training camp next week at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Bill Foran — a linchpin in the Heat becoming what Pat Riley calls the NBA’s best-conditioned team — retired this month after 33 years with the organization.
And shooting coach Rob Fodor — credited with helping several of the Heat’s players improve their perimeter accuracy — won’t be around the team in training camp and likely, beyond.
Fodor could have returned for a fifth season if he wanted but preferred to live in another part of the country, according to a source.
Now residing in California, Fodor will retain his role as the Heat’s shooting coach but will assist Heat players via Zoom sessions and phone calls.
During his time with the Heat, several players credited Fodor for their development.
Tyler Herro said Fodor assisted him during his rookie season by suggesting that Herro shoot the ball from his right hip rather than his left hip.
“It has really helped me,” said Herro, who is right-handed. “It plays a big role on how efficient I am. If the ball is coming from the left, it’s less efficient body movement wise.”
During the 2020 NBA playoffs, Andre Iguodala said: “It’s funny I was called a non-shooter my entire career. I didn’t even know I had 1,000 threes in my career until some guy was talking about it. I’ve got some good people in my corner. I’ve been working with Rob Fodor. He has simplified one thing that’s really made a difference.”
Duncan Robinson also has credited Fodor for his role in Robinson’s rise from an undrafted G League player to one of the league’s elite three-point shooters.
Meanwhile, Foran assisted the Heat during the franchise’s first season and became the team’s full-time strength and conditioning coach in year two.
He scaled back somewhat four years ago, stepping down as the head strength and conditioning coach but staying on board in a very active role assisting his son Eric, who took over Foran’s former job.
The Heat called Bill Foran a “consultant/strength and conditioning” in recent years, but his responsibilities exceeded those of a typical consultant.
Foran said he believes he retired as the longest-tenured strength and conditioning coach in pro sports, topping longtime Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans trainer Steve Watterson, who retired in 2019.
“To do this this long is mind-boggling to me,” Foran said, thanking the Heat for its loyalty. “I’ll be 68 in December, and it’s hard to find a strength and conditioning coach that old. It’s time. It’s been a good run.”
Over three-plus decades, Foran helped transform the bodies of numerous Heat players, which in most cases led to greater on-court success. Ask him his biggest success stories, and there are no shortage of candidates.
He cited Rony Seikaly, the Heat’s first ever draft pick who was voted the NBA’s Most Improved Player in his second season after becoming stronger and putting on 22 pounds under Foran’s guidance.
On the flip side, former Heat center Ike Austin “lost 40 pounds and was voted” the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 1997.
Foran cited significant weight losses for Quentin Richardson, James Johnson and Dion Waiters during their Heat careers and how that helped their games.
Then there was “Robinson putting on 15 pounds of muscle,” Foran said. “Anthony-Mason had his only All-Star season here” after refining his body under Foran.
Foran, who is moving to Vero Beach, essentially will be replaced by Hunter Glascock, who will assist Eric Foran after leaving his role with the Heat’s G League team in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 2:47 PM.
