A biography for Erik Spoelstrahasn’t been written yet.
“It's not just about winning or losing, but to learn about teamwork, learn about sportsmanship, learn about discipline. The value of working together for a common goal. Have the emphasis on fundamentals, not just games.”
“You better believe Goran Dragic is going to have a big impact on the ball.”
“You're all over the place usually with young players. You're trying to manage their emotions and teach them NBA situations. It usually takes months, even years, to learn and recognize NBA situations and then to develop a level of competitiveness that's necessary at this level.”
“Sometimes, you have a hunch and then you find numbers that substantiate that, it makes either the staff or the players say, 'OK, let's fix that.'”
“This is a beautiful game.”
“My first year in Miami, I didn't even know it was sunny during the winter.”
“You have to be able to compete, put yourself out there, make yourself vulnerable, to go for something that you want.”
“League-wide, 99 percent of the rumors are just way off base.”
“When you get into the playoffs, there become a lot of different storylines. But it's all about putting together a team that competes for a title.”
“Yes, there's more access to film than when I first came into the league, but because of it there's a desire to see more and study more and cover more.”
“Painful experiences can be the most powerful teacher.”
“It's my personality naturally to try to fly under the radar.”
“I think it's important to remain true to myself, but ultimately the Miami Heat and what it stands for is part of me. It's part of my fabric.”
“Simplicity is often one of the greatest strengths.”
“It doesn't matter whether you're a former player or you come up through the video room, whether you come from college. You have to earn that trust from NBA players every day.”
“I've traveled enough around the world with the NBA to see how much it's grown, globally.”
“When I see a league with a lot of change and turnover, yes, there's a lot of big narratives out there, but I see opportunity.”
“In my mind, this is an 'and,' it's not 'either' 'or' or 'but.' Yeah, you can feel a certain way about honoring the flag and the country, and feel that there needs to be some significant changes in the system, regarding racial inequalities.”
“Competition matters.”
“I think we would all prefer to have a slightly shorter regular season with less back-to-back games. This would seem to help put out a better product, and it could also possibly help with injury prevention from over-use injuries.”