As theย Miami Heat face the Minnesota Timberwolvesย on Sunday, they will be led by head coach Erik Spoelstra, who, besides achieving greatness at the NBA level, has also made his mark on the Olympics stage with Team USA.ย Spoelstra spoke about Heat stars Bam Adebayo and Nikola Jovicย and their incredible experiences earlier but now speaks about his very own memories this past summer.
Team USA won the gold medal this past summer in Paris, France, not only marking the fifth straight Olympics the group won the ultimate prize, but Spoelstra became the first Miami coach to be a part of the staff leading them there. With Team USA beating France in the gold medal game, Spoelstra said the whole stint was aย โgratifying core memory,โ according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
โA couple days ago, I was looking through some of the pictures from the trip,โ Spoelstra, 54, said recently. โIt was such an intense, gratifying core memory. It was so much fun.โ
Heatโs Erik Spoelstra on working with a stacked Team USAย
It was also aย special moment for Spoelstra and Heat star Adebayo as they worked with each other during the Olympics, but the rest of Team USA was stacked with stars such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, and many more. Spoelstra said he had cherished every moment of the run this past Wednesday when Miami faced the Phoenix Suns.
โIt was an iconic team,โ Spoelstra said. โThose are life core memories. It was an incredible life experience. It was just a great basketball experience. You know, and the coaching staff, we got along really well. Weโre on a text chain that weโre still texting today.โ
โSo it was a blast,โ Spoelstra continued. โWe had a great time and it was one of those things, itโs like lightning in a bottle, you just want to capture it forever.โ
Spoelstra was also a part of Team USA in July 2021, where he was head coach for the select team which prepares the main group for the Olympics contest. That 2020 Olympics group, which included Adebayo, would end up winning the gold medal in Tokyo, Japan.
Heatโs Erik Spoelstra could be head coach of Team USA
He would then be promoted to assistant coach to head coach Steve Kerr for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, where Team USA just missed the cut of the bronze medal, losing to Canada. Still, being a part of the Olympics coaching staff has always been a โdreamโ for Spoelstra, which he finally got to achieve.
โItโs always been a dream of mine to be part of USA Basketball and to be able to coach the Select Team in 2021 and to be an assistant coach,โ Spoelstra said. โThey can ask me to do anything, Iโm in, forget about it. If I was asked to help out in the equipment room, Iโm in.โ
Looking to the future, there have been rumors ofย Spoelstra being the Team USA head coachย for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, California. However, Spoelstra was asked about it and denied any conversations relating to that, instead expressing his gratitude for being on Team USA to begin with.
โThat was just an absolute core memory that Iโll take with me for the rest of my life,โ Spoelstra said. โIt was a dream of mine to be part of USA Basketball in any fashion. I would have taken any position, and Iโm just so grateful for that experience this summer.โ
Heatโs Bam Adebayo on being with Erik Spoelstra on Team USAย
Being with Adebayo made the journey that much more special as they worked closely with each other because of their familiarity with the Heat. Spoelstra would be with Adebayo and his mother last Monday,ย where they held up a bannerย celebratingย the gold medal winย as the center said to ClutchPoints how great it was to have aย โmomentโย with his head coach.
โItโs great that we had a moment that wasnโt in a Heat jersey,โ Adebayo said after the Heat lost to the Sacramento Kings. โBeing able to fight for your country is something special, and to do that with my coach is something that weโll never forget. Every time I see him, weโll be able to share that moment.โ
Before Spoelstra and Adebayo can even think of the 2028 Olympics, they will be focusing on the current season, where Miami is 3-5 on a three-game losing streak, hoping to snap it as they face the Timberwolves Sunday night. They are still in the midst of a rough six-game road trip.
