Broussard: 'I've Never Thought Spo Was Great'
The Miami Heat were eliminated from the playoffs last night, marking the first time in Erik Spoelstra's superb career as head coach he won't be coaching in the postseason.
Miami has a 36-45 record with one game to play and despite getting crushed by waves of injuries throughout the season, some people think Spo's seat should be starting to warm. Like ESPN's Chris Broussard, for instance, who slighted Spo's accomplishments and also thinks the Big Three Era in Miami failed to live up to expectations.
"I've never thought Spo was great," Broussard said on the Marc Hochman Show with Zach Krantz on 560 WQAM. "I haven't seen enough to tell me he's a great coach yet. I think there's tons of coaches that could've gotten that team to four straight NBA Finals [and] win two. I don't think he's a bad coach but I haven't seen enough to say he's a great guy whose job should never be in jeopardy.
"I know they had injuries but even with the injuries that's a team that should've been in the playoffs. I'm sorry... Erik Spoelstra still has yet to prove to me -- even with his championships -- that he's a great coach."
Broussard, who grew up in Ohio, also through some jabs at the 2010-2014 Heat.
"Look, they won two championships, they reached four straight Finals, which is somewhat historic, but it wasn't an all-time great team," he said. "I mean they just didn't live up to it.
"And they caught a lot of breaks. They caught a ton of breaks. I mean Derrick Rose getting hurt in their second season together, that's a huge break. Boston was old. I mean who'd they really go through?"
Something Broussard failed to mention is all champions catch breaks. You don't plow through an 82-game season and four grueling best-of-seven playoff series without some help from the basketball gods. And to say the Big Three Heat team wasn't an all-time great -- even with LeBron filing for divorce amid a perfect marriage -- is asinine.
Only four teams in NBA history have made it to four consecutive NBA Finals. Only four teams have repeated. Miami's 27-game winning streak in the 2012-13 season is the second most ever. And who knows what could've been accomplished the next few years had LeBron stayed.
Chris Broussard needs to simmer down.
