If a team falls short of its end goal or fails to meet the expectations of a fanbase, usually there is someone who has to serve as a proverbial scapegoat. This leads to coaches and front office members getting fired or even players getting traded, whether they deserve that fate or not. For better or worse, the modern-day sports fan wants somebody to be held responsible for shortcomings.
Though, if you think that should be the case with the Miami Heat, who are on the verge of blowing a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, you may not understand Pat Riley or the team’s path to get to this point. The Heat were lucky enough to back into the playoffs as a No. 8 seed and are now just one win away from the NBA Finals.
The problem here is the Heat have been one win away for three games now and have allowed the Boston Celtics to erase a 3-0 deficit.
So, when a Twitter user presented that the Miami Heat should fire head coach Erik Spoelstra—if the team blows a 3-0 lead and loses Game 7 on Monday night—it was met with a lot of pushback.
It could be argued that Spoelstra is the best coach in the league. And few would push back. At the same time, if Spoelstra was ever fired by the Heat, which was suggested in a tweet that now had 4.8 million views, other teams would fire their head coaches to have a shot at pursuing the 52-year-old.
Bron will draw up Darvin’s termination papers and drive him to the airport two minutes after this goes down. https://t.co/rmJIJHHeHs
— Ben Rosales (@brosales12) May 29, 2023
Adrian Griffin would have the shortest head coach tenure in NBA history https://t.co/t02AAMy7hp
— Hassan (@H34SSANv2) May 29, 2023
Riley not emotional like that. Riles shows extreme loyalty to guys, Spo was molded by Riley…Spo is there until he quits and go up in the front office https://t.co/XFg9O2HrsZ
— CL Owens 🏀 🇺🇸 (@CSmoove_Sports) May 28, 2023
Y’all really be saying anything. Spo gon be in Miami forever https://t.co/AAPJR2N3Q9
— Heat Wentz (@Parkour_Lewis) May 28, 2023
Arguably the best coach in the league??? https://t.co/LbdofrVtzF
— Vic Damone Jr (@wholesomefoxx) May 28, 2023
There’s at least 20-25 teams who’d make him their head coach in a heartbeat if that happens https://t.co/HbDk1pXn45
— Ant (@guap_ant) May 28, 2023
https://twitter.com/ItsNickFasho/status/1662846392933535749?s=20
He’s a top 5 coach all-time. This team wasn’t even suppose to be in this situation. Blowing a 3-0 lead is tuff but relax lol https://t.co/If1ysxwWaF
— Dwayne (@NoTalkJustWALK) May 28, 2023
Just last week y’all were saying he’s one of the greatest coaches. Twitter shows you who would panic in real situations . https://t.co/kGIDpWFhIM
— Deuce (@DeuceThomas) May 28, 2023
Rob Pelinka waiting to snatch Spo https://t.co/avOF6MUN1q pic.twitter.com/ENGycNAsFZ
— Sean Davis (@Sean_Davi) May 28, 2023
Chances of this happening: -100% https://t.co/vnvAnkbaJl
— Serhan Dayi (@SerhanDayi45) May 28, 2023
Pls excuse me while I create a thousand burner accounts in order to convince the Heat to fire Spo so the Sixers can hire him in 0.9 seconds https://t.co/GTA9ca7XGg
— ‘Miserable’ Pablo Torre 🕳️ (@PabloTorre) May 28, 2023
Crying, he would have a job the same day if he desires https://t.co/xx21IEliZC
— . (@deuknow05) May 28, 2023
Not to put Spoelstra on a pedestal, but it’s more likely that his coaching career will play out like Bill Belichick’s, where he’ll coach the team until he no longer wants to. So, if the Heat were to lose Game 7, it would be a jaw-dropping decision if they decided to fire Spoelstra.