Rumors are circulating across the web today, most of which seem to be stemming from the ESPN post by Chris Broussard this morning claiming that the Miami Heat Players are frustrated with coach Erik Spoelstra and want him replaced. The Miami Heat have lost 4 of their last 5 games and are sitting on a very average record of 9-8 at this early juncture.
Coach Spoelstra and Lebron James have not been seeing eye to eye.
While some experts believed this Miami Heat team with Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh could get 70 wins, others thought the team would need a year to gel and really get their chemistry right. But no matter who you spoke to heading into this season, I don’t think anyone could have guessed the Heat would be barely over a .500 record heading into December.
So what happens when a team doesn’t perform up to their hype and expectations? Cue the complaints about the coaching….
Sources say the players believe he is not letting them be themselves, that they are questioning his offensive strategies, and that they think he is panicking because he fears losing his job.
“Right now, in my opinion, no one is doing a good job,” said Heat guard Dwyane Wade, asked Monday about Spoelstra’s performance. “We’re 9-and-8. We’re all in this together. The players are not doing a good job. The coach is not doing a good job.”
In contrast to the popular view that Spoelstra has been hesitant to jump on Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh, sources say the Heat coach has shown no fear in criticizing them.
Exhibit A was a recent shootaround in which Spoelstra told James that he had to get more serious. The source said Spoelstra called James out in front of the entire team, telling him, “I can’t tell when you’re serious.”
“He’s jumping on them,” one source said. “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.”
Read more details via ESPN.com
