On a night where the NBA’s superstars were on the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse court for the NBA All-Star Game, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra found himself star-struck by the league’s elder statesmen, who gathered in Cleveland for the league’s 75th-anniversary celebration.
“We all felt like kids,” Spoelstra said. “Wanted to be super respectful but just quite naturally, you wanted to grab a piece of paper and start getting autographs. One of the coolest things I saw was Rick Barry going around getting autographs from all the other 75 players.”
The NBA honored its past and current stars on Sunday night as Spoelstra coached Team Durant’s All-Stars to a narrow, 163-160 loss to Team LeBron — and Heat star Jimmy Butler, who was drafted to LeBron James’ team. James knocked down the game-winning shot in the fourth quarter to seal the win. Butler had two points, two steals and one assist in 9:20 of play.
“He was talking trash,” Spoelstra said. “If he hit that three in the corner as soon as he came in the game and he shot that open three, he would’ve sprinted down, barking at us. But it was mostly friendly.”
Spoelstra and Butler had the chance to spend a little bit of time with some of the Heat legends in attendance, taking pictures with Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal, Gary Payton, Ray Allen and Bob McAdoo — all members of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team.
“We originally just wanted to get a photo with Jimmy, and then as we were getting Jimmy ready for the photo then Dwyane (Wade) walked by, then we’re like, ‘Wait a minute; you’ve got to get in this photo,’” Spoelstra said. “And then G.P. walked by and then Ray was just right around the corner. And then Bob (McAdoo) walked in. ... It’s going up in every one of our offices, for sure.”
A current NBA legend put on a show during the game, as Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry set the All-Star Game record with 16 3-pointers, including some shots where he turned around after releasing the ball and some from several yards behind the three-point line. He finished the game with 50 points, two points shy of tying the record set by Anthony Davis in 2017.
“He was doing so many crazy things,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve got to get a shot tracker. I want to see how many of those were actually inside 26 feet. If they were inside 26 feet, they shouldn’t count. It was a really amazing shooting display. I don’t care if you’re in an empty gym and shooting with that range, on the move, and all that stuff. ... It was a pretty spectacular shooting night.”
Spoelstra said this All-Star Game trip was “different” than his first All-Star coaching experience, which came in 2013 in Houston.
“It was a great show,” Spoelstra said. “It was an electrifying crowd. It was an amazing night for this association. This one felt a whole lot different than 2013, and that was incredible. But just the legacies and the star power in the crowd. It was somewhat distracting. I just felt like a fan. I just wanted to keep on spotting different guys. That part was a lot of fun.”
With Spoelstra as one of the two All-Star coaches, this weekend was also an opportunity for the Heat’s assistant coaches to travel to Cleveland, experience the festivities and coach in the game.
“I think they had a blast,” Spoelstra said. “This is a really special weekend for the Heat organization. We take a lot of pride in this. We all brought our families out and it really was like a family vacation. We all would convene in the same place and have breakfast and meals together and get on the same busses to go to the events. Seeing the staff with their families and kids was just really a lot of fun.”
The Heat, who currently hold the No. 1 seed in the hotly contested Eastern Conference, return from the All-Star break on Friday with a road game against the New York Knicks.
“We’ll buckle down and get serious by the stretch run,” Spoelstra said. “We know how competitive it is, and we have a bunch of hard-nosed, competitive guys in our locker room. They thrive and want these kind of situations and compelling matchups. But we’ll get there at the end of the week.”
