Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t have to go back to the Philippines this summer.
I mean, why would he?
The past season was an absolute grind for Spoelstra who in his third year at the helm helped guide the Heat to an NBA Finals appearance.
What Spoelstra experienced during the yearlong journey that began on July 8, 2010 had to be both exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. The amount of attention the team received from the media thanks to his star players was unprecedented and presumably draining.
So a return trip to the Philippines where he’s held basketball and fitness clinics the past two years seemed ill-timed and out of place for the Filipino-American from Portland, Oregon.
During the league’s labor shutdown, Spoelstra should be relaxing and his enjoying his time off but all the while looking to improve the team for when the lockout ends and free agency begins which may arrive at the end of the summer or last through the fall.
After the finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks, Spoelstra decompressed for a quick minute but then got right back to work, focusing his energy (along with that of team president Pat Riley) in late June on the NBA draft, where the Heat traded up to move three spots forward and chose Cleveland State point guard Norris Cole with the No. 28 pick.
Spoelstra has managed to spend some quality time on both coasts so far this summer.
On June 24, he attended the fight of women’s boxing world champion Ana Julaton in Miami, where he witnessed his Pinay friend from the Bay Area score an eight round unanimous decision victory over opponent Angel Gladney.
According to examiner.com scribe, Michael Marley, Spoelstra was spotted a few weeks later exiting a Los Angeles restaurant by Top Rank Boxing Promotions’ VP Carl Moretti who reportedly asked the 40-year-old about potential plans to collaborate with Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao on a basketball/fitness clinic in the Sarangani Province.
Spoelstra allegedly answered by proclaiming that he could beat the pugilistic legend and hoops fanatic in a game of one on one.
Granted, Spoelstra has about seven inches in height over Pacquiao but simply use the event to benefit a Philippine charity, as was the case last weekend when a collection of NBA players-led by Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant-went up against the Smart Gilas national team and then an assortment of current PBA All-Stars.
The court battle between the two Pinoys, however, most likely won’t take place next week when Spoelstra and the current Heat coaching staff arrive in the Philippines on August 1 for a weeklong series of basketball and fitness clinics to be held throughout the country.
The tentatively scheduled partnership between the coach and ring idol has yet to be confirmed and appears to be shelved for a later date because of the busy schedule Pacquiao has as a congressman in the Philippines House of Representatives.
It’s the third consecutive year that Spoelstra will visit his mother’s homeland (Elisa Celino hails from San Pablo, Laguna) to participate in youth sports outreach and marks the second straight year he will act as an NBA ambassador for the league’s Fit program.
Spoelstra will tour a number of schools throughout Metro Manila including National University and Rizal High School.
The first Pinoy to ever coach in the NBA is obviously committed to advancing his culture and heritage through the promotion of youth activity in sports as both a teacher and leader.
Bravo Coach Spo.