Spoelstra has learned from Rivers, and they both learned from Riley
Amid all the intensity of the Eastern Conference final, it never got contentious between Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and Celtics coach Doc Rivers.
There simply was too much respect between the Pat Riley proteges.
"I have an incredible respect for Doc," Spoelstra said after the Heat closed out the Celtics 101-88 in Game 7 on Saturday and earned the right to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in Tuesday's opener of the NBA Finals. "He's a great coach. I've had some opportunities to spend a little bit of time with him during the summers. He's a great X-and-O guy, but you see what really separates him is his ability to manage personalities.
"That's the part I was interested in when we've been able to talk. You know, anyone that's won a championship, you have great respect for."
For Spoelstra, the East final was just the latest opportunity to learn from Rivers.
"I had a chance in the summer to spend a little bit of time with him at a coaching clinic," Spoelstra explained. "While he's highly regarded in his schematics and X's and O's, I was more curious about the management of personalities. That's really, ultimately, what it's about in this league.
"While all those other things are important, the day to day, how you motivate, how you manage all the different challenges and personalities is really probably the biggest part of the job."
Rivers said while it could be awkward leading a symposium that includes another NBA coach, he said there was too much respect for Spoelstra to back off.
"It was funny because we were talking to 200 coaches, and you see Erik sitting there, and you say, 'I'm not going to say this or I'm not going to talk about this,' " Rivers related. "A lot of it was ATO (after-timeout) stuff. I was like, 'I'm not sharing that. So it was funny.' "
Rivers was groomed for his current role while playing for Pat Riley with the Knicks. Spoelstra served as Riley's video coordinator and assistant during Riley's Heat coaching tenure.
"Coaches share a lot," Rivers said. "You would be amazed how much. Our fraternity is really close. You would be amazed how much we talk and share with each other, and it was good."
