heat Coach Erik Spoelstra apologized for his curt response to a question posed by ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne after the Heat’s 111-108 victory over the Nuggets in Game 2 of the NBA Finals Sunday night.
The Heat trailed the Nuggets by as much as 15 points in the contest. But strong performances from Gabe Vincent, Jimmy Butler and Pam Adebayo helped make up Nikola Jokic with 41 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
However, when Shelbourne asked Spoelstra his thoughts on making Jokić a mere ‘scorer’, Spoelstra gave an unpleasant response.
“That’s ridiculous… that’s the untrained eye that says something like that,” said Spoelstra. “this person [Nikola Jokić] He is an incredible player. Twice in two seasons he was the best player on the planet. You can’t just say, “Oh, make him score.” That’s not how they play.”
On Monday, Shelburne revealed on ESPN’s The NBA Today She and Spoelstra are “fine” and he apologized for the comment.
Those in their feelings for Spo text Ramona and apologize. He was in the heat of the moment. You can all move on now 😒 https://t.co/iXj80sosEU pic.twitter.com/kMUBX32vi8
— 𝙃𝙪𝙨𝙝 𝘼𝙇𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙨 ™ (@AIR305) June 5, 2023
“We spoke after the game. He watched the clip again and texted me… saying I’m sorry I don’t know why I said that,” ShelbourneHe said. “In the heat of the moment after a game like this when things are intense, people say things, nothing personal.”
The Heat are going for a 2-1 lead against Denver on Wednesday night in Game 3 as the best-of-seven series moves to Miami.