Miami Heat’s Coach Erik Spoelstra Wants This Season To Be An Inspiration For Difficult Life Situations

The Miami Heat’s end to the season was something a lot of pundits envisioned.

But after losing to the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra saw the season as an inspiration to people who are dealing with adversity and being labeled as “underdogs” in life.

“I think this is a team that a lot of people can relate to,” Spoelstra said. “If you ever felt that you were dismissed or felt that you were made to feel less than. We had a lot of people in our locker room that probably have had that, and there's probably a lot of people out there, you know, that have felt that at some time or another.”

Sports fans constantly look for a “Cinderella story”. Some go to the NFL’s 1969 New York Jets or the MLB’s 1969 New York Mets.

Granted, those teams actually achieved the greatest goal, a championship. But the Heat’s constant fight back through difficult situations is something to admire.

“But also the way this team handled setbacks and adversity, you know, to develop a collective grit and perseverance,” Spoelstra said. “I mentioned this before that hopefully these are lessons that will transcend this beautiful game; that hopefully these are lessons that we can pass along to our children; that even though it is sport, that you can learn lessons of life from this game; that you can persevere; that you can handle what people may view as mini-failures along the way and become stronger from it and to be able to overcome things and find beautiful things on the other side of that.”

Now that the Heat’s offseason has begun, they have the opportunity to build up on this amazing year and maybe go for another Finals run.

Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog HERE.