Miami Heat: Will LeBron James Force Out Erik Spoelstra?
LeBron James, the Heat and their fans expected near perfection this year.
Anything less and there was going to be a fall man.
That fall man has been positively identified as Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, and barring some kind of miracle it looks like his days in Miami are numbered.
One really does have to wonder how a team with three of the NBA's best players is 9-8.
It obviously can't be entirely Spoelstra's fault, but once the players believe it is, then it's too late for him. The players need a pick me up, and sadly that pick me up will be the firing of Spoelstra.
Erik Spoelstra
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Spoelstra is the Heat's little known 40-year-old head coach.
Prior to his hiring as the Heat's head coach, he was more known for being the son of NBA executive Jon Spoelstra.
In his first two season as coach, he led the Heat to a combined 90 wins and two playoff appearances, but both resulted in early exits.
Some have speculated that Spoelstra has been unable to handle the personalities of the Heat's Big Three, telling them that they need to be more "serious" when they all said their much hyped move was about bringing back the "fun" of the game.
Such a fundamental difference in their views explains the Heat's problems. They have a coach who wants to control the Big Three, and the Big Three want to go out and just play ball.
A foxsports.com quotes a source as saying, "If anything, he's been too tough on them. Everybody knows LeBron is playful and likes to joke around, but Spoelstra told him in front of the whole team that he has to get more serious. The players couldn't believe it. They feel like Spoelstra's not letting them be themselves."
That right there sums up why, more than anything else, Spoelstra will be fired.
The players are done with him.
LeBron James
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I wanted to believe LeBron James as much as everyone else when he said he could be humble.
But after 17 games, it has become painfully evident that he is struggling to find a new identity in Miami.
The biggest sign is his refusal to accept the role of point guard on this Miami Heat squad.
Sure, he may not like the title and may want to think of himself as a forward, but this Heat team is so much better with him distributing the ball.
For all his talk of wanting to be like Magic, he has yet to back it up.
This Heat team was counting on one of the Big Three being able to take a back seat role, but so far none has been able to do that.
It seems evident that Dwyane Wade is destined to be the leader, so that means James needs to accept his role as distributor for this team to work.
I don't know if that is Spoelstra's fault or not, but I'd be willing to bet that any new coach that takes over this team convinces James of to play the role of point guard.
Oh, and there was that whole bumping of Spoelstra thing which had the Internet abuzz. Just looked like a bump to me though.
Prediction
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Pat Riley's perfect team is in disarray. Somebody do something quick!
I guarantee Riley is already thinking of a fix, but I don't know what it is.
Frankly, I think Riley got himself so over his head in trying to get the Big Three that he never considered how to tame them.
Obviously, a fresh-faced 40-year-old coach wasn't the right choice for these men.
It's likely that Spoelstra was only able to keep his job due to his strong relationship with Wade, but that won't be enough much longer.
The Heat need a shakeup. The most obvious answer is Riley at coach.
But he took so much heat for firing Stan Van Gundy and taking over that it's questionable whether he would risk the PR backlash of unseating a coach again.
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