Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo recently explained how Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra allows his players to blow up or question decisions as long as they’re doing so in the name of winning.
“I will say, he let dudes be they self,” Adebayo said. “If it’s about — at the end of the day — if you blow up in the locker room, you want to throw some s—, alright cool, as long as we win at the end of the day. He cool with dudes like, ‘Nah Coach, we ain’t running that. We ain’t running that. Let’s keep doing this.’”
Adebayo also explained that Spoelstra listens to players about substitutions at times. He explained that if a certain group is on a run, and Spoelstra asks someone to check in, the Heat coach often listens if players tell him to let the current group continue.
“He listens to us,” Adebayo said. “But if it ain’t about winning, he ain’t hearing none of that. If he start thinking it’s about buckets, and you ain’t for the team, then he gotta have a conversation.”
The Heat have been winning a ton this season, as they are currently 36-20 and hold the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference.
Spoelstra has gone to five NBA Finals as Miami’s head coach, winning two titles. It is clear that he trusts his players to make the right decisions and is willing to hear them out to create the great culture that the team has.
Culture is important for Miami. The team has several fiery leaders in the locker room such as Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker, Kyle Lowry and Adebayo.
The Heat are hoping that Spoelstra’s coaching can continue to elevate the team throughout the rest of the 2021-22 regular season and into the playoffs. The squad is looking to make a deep run.