THE RISE OF ERIK SPOELSTRA

This is truly a Cinderella story. A month into the current season, many speculated that Erik Spoelstra’s days as head coach of the Miami Heat are numbered. That is after a struggling start that saw the Heat winning only nine of their first 17 games. Even two of the team’s celebrated trio, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, became doubtful on the capability of the young Filipino-American mentor to lead the Heat to greener pastures.  But Spoesltra remained calm at the height of the storm and stayed put with his coaching philosophy and strategic moves. The result was mind-boggling. The Heat won 19 of their last 20 games and the NBA eventually named Spoelstra as the Eastern Conference Coach for the month of December. Spoelstra has now really made everyone a believer and that includes James and Wade, according to the Miami Herald.

LeBron James: “Spo has been great. When we were struggling, he weathered the storm and he kept us understanding it would take a lot of dedication, a lot of commitment. He always stayed the course. As players, we respected that. We tried to give back to him by playing great basketball.”

Dwyane Wade: “We've got a great leader, and he's helped us to be where we're at now. He never gets too high or too low. During this winning streak, he's been on us the whole time. He's always preached to be humble. He did a great job helping us keep our mental [state] -- continuing to preach defense and togetherness.”