Erik Spoelstra has bore witness to many epic battles between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat in his 17 years as head coach in Miami. He's also gotten to know this particular crop of Celtics stars well after spending the summer coaching Team USA at the Paris Olympics as a member of Steve Kerr's staff.
On Wednesday, ahead of another Celtics-Heat clash at TD Garden, Spoelstra spoke about the experience and gave a hilarious quote about coaching Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Jrue Holiday en route to another Team USA gold medal.
"I mentioned to all of the Celtics from that summer, I hated myself for actually liking them," Spoelstra said. "And then I hated myself for admitting it even more. They're just quality human beings."
Spoelstra has had a few intense encounters with these particular Celtics. Tatum and White were apart of the 2022 conference finals that the Celtics won and the 2023 series where the Heat pulled off an all-time upset as an eight seed. Then, Holiday joined the core for the 2024 first-round battle in which Boston wiped the floor with a depleted Miami squad en route to a championship.
Wednesday’s matchup should be a good one, but it’s clear there’s no bad blood between the rival squads.
