Erik Spoelstra hated how much he liked coaching Celtics stars in the Olympics
"And then admitting it I hated myself even more," Spoelstra said.
The Heat and Celtics have met in the playoffs each of the past three years. They’ve played each other in four conference finals since 2012.
The rivalry has been intense in recent years, but this season the Heat are ninth in the Eastern Conference standings. Miami isn’t as formidable as it used to be, but they haven’t forgotten about the recent battles with the Celtics.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was an assistant coach on the Team USA basketball staff this past summer, where he coached Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. Spoelstra marveled at how much he enjoyed coaching Celtics players when they were not wearing green.
“That entire experience was an incredible blessing,” Spoelstra said. “I mentioned to all of the Celtics from that summer that I hated myself for actually liking them, and then admitting it I hated myself even more. They’re just quality human beings. Great competitors, great basketball players.”
Spoelstra spoke about how impressed he was with Derrick White, who joined the team as an injury replacement for Kawhi Leonard. It was White’s first Olympic experience.
White has continuously improved during his time with the Celtics, espcially his outside shooting. He shot 30.6 percent from 3-point range during his first season with the Celtics in 2022. He’s up to 38 percent this year, and he recently broke the Celtics’ single-season record for most made 3-pointers in a season.
“I have the utmost respect for Derrick,” Spoelstra said. “He’s a winning player. Now he’s doing things that the rest of the people recognize, but the people who competed against him recoginzed pretty quickly these last handful of years that he impacts winning and that’s way more than just the 3-point shooting.”
White saved the Celtics’ season in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals with a last-second-tip in Game 6 against the Heat that forced a Game 7 at TD Garden. The Celtics lost that game and Miami advanced to the NBA Finals where they lost to Denver.
It was one of many clutch moments for the Celtics point guard. He hit the go-ahead 3-pointer against the Pacers in the final game of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. He’s made for those kinds of moments, Al Horford said at the time.
Spoelstra got an up-close look at what Tatum, White, and Holiday can bring to the table this summer. He liked what he saw, so much that it didn’t feel quite right given his place in the rivalry.
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