July 13, 2023 • 19 mins
Israel sits down with former Heat player and current Assistant Coach Chris Quinn LIVE during NBA Con at Las Vegas Summer League. They talk about Chris' time playing with the Heat, and his transition into coaching the team. Chris gets into his relationships with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Udonis Haslem, Erik Spoelstra, living the "Heat Culture," Jimmy's 56 point game against the Bucks and winning Game 7 in Boston.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome back on isbel gutierres a host of four years
of Heat. If you haven't listened to it yet, you're
missing out. It takes you through the twenty ten to
twenty fourteen Miami Heat. Obviously Lebron was on that team,
Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and this.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Guy right here was close. He was almost on that team.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Chris quinn is his future head coach is what I
like to call him, but he's currently an assistant head
coach with the Miami Heat. Played with the Heat from
eight to ten or was it seven.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Six to ten?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Six six to ten, and then played for some other
teams and then eventually became a coach here. But I
wanted to take you back to your playing days because
you were a Notre Dame guard, All Big East first team,
You're senior season. You were actually one of the undrafted
Miami Heat stories right, talk to me about how you
ended up with Miami and just your experience there playing
(00:53):
alongside Dwayne.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah, so it it's interesting.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I was just thinking about it was seventeen years ago
now that I was here in summer League trying to
earn a spot. Uh, Basically I went undrafted in the
two thousand and six NBA draft.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
My agent called right after the draft.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
The Miami Heat were coming off the six championship. They
had most of their team back and they had a
couple of spots that you know, towards the end of
the roster that were open and they wanted a couple
of young guys. Of course, you know, they had no
draft picks that year, so there was no other guys
drafted ahead of me for the Heat. There was a
(01:31):
few of us that they signed right away basically on
a summer league training camp type deals, uh, so that
we could go in there, compete, battle it out, and eventually,
you know, try to try to make make the main roster.
You know, I was lucky enough. You know, my my
rookie year was obviously Dwayne in his prime. Shack was
(01:51):
still there, Zoe was still there, Gary Payton, Jay Will.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
It was. It was the Star Study six team. So
it was they didn't incredible experience getting to know those guys,
being in the locker room with those type of Hall
of Fame guys. Man. Obviously you mentioned Dwayne, you know
those years I was there, that was his prime. You know,
he got injured the one year then came back and
(02:16):
led the league in scoring. But just what a special
player that always rose, you know, to the occasion and
the biggest moments.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I want to go back to the year, the injury
prone year, the year that they basically didn't win a
whole lot of games, and it would just giving a
lot of people some time. But you had some great
moments in that year, any sort of memorable standout moments,
because there was one play I want to say it
was against the Phoenix Suns.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
It was just like a fast break.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I think it was an and one, and I think
you even shocked yourself with the finish. And I'm just like,
I love seeing that from players who are in the
league and maybe are surprising themselves, Like, what were some
of the highlights from your stint there?
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Yeah, it was one of those games where we were
down I think fifteen or twenty and they put in
the second unit for the fourth quarter and then we
made a big run, cut their lead I think eventually
to two or three. But it was the shot. Someone
actually asked me about it yesterday and was wondered if
it was a trivia question, if I knew who fouled
(03:11):
me when when I made that that shot, but I
actually don't remember, but I do remember the moment. I
kind of just threw it up and it went in.
But it was a lot of fun moments, you know,
a lot of moments behind the scenes of hard work. Obviously,
my first two years I played for coach Riley.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Which was an amazing experience.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
And then my last two years, basically a year and
a half was Underpo played for Spose. That was his
first two years. I actually joked with Spo all the
time that in twenty ten that he traded me away
from the Miami Heat. You know, obviously the next summer
is when they when they got to the Big Three.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
What was that like when you traded away and then
all of a sudden you turn around and be like,
oh no, Lebron just signed with the Heat.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
What just happened? Yeah, yeah, it was a bittersweet moment.
But you know, I joke with he says that the
time he didn't he didn't have a lot of pull,
But I joke with him that he traded me away,
and it was just, you know, I was happy, you know,
for the organization. Created a lot of great relationships.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Fortunately those relationships eventually led me back as a coach,
and obviously Spoe as a young coach being put in
that position and then and then doing so well with
it was super cool to see.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Yeah, I was gonna say, what you saw, what you
experienced from Spoe. He's clearly a different coach than he
was than he is now back then, But what did
you see from him in those first couple of years
and made you think, Hey, this guy's got something.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Yeah, it's always it was. It was the same concepts.
It was his work ethic. He had a ton of
grid as a head coach. Uh.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
He was always trying to.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Look for ways to improve, get better. Uh, how can
I be better as a coach? How can I how
better serve our players? And he would always look at
himself first. Uh, after a bad loss, after a win,
he was always looking in the mirror.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
How could he do better?
Speaker 4 (04:55):
How can he help the team more?
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Those are the things that have led him to become,
you know, obviously one of the one of the best
right now.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Now, after you left the Heat, you had some stints
with some other teams. You played in Russia, you played
in Cleveland. Also, talk to me about how you got
back to Miami. What was the path to get you
into coaching.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Yeah, so my fifth year I played in San Antonio
with the Spurs, which was super cool obviously, you know,
I went from pat Riley, Eric Sposha to Greg Popovich,
just three of the top you know, they just did
the top fifteen list of all time. These are these
are three the greatest of all time. Uh so I
got to learn from the from them, you know, basketball
one oh one from three of the greatest minds. My
(05:34):
sixth year playing professionally was the lockout year, right, and
uh you know, my agent called in in the middle
of the summer basically said hey, I have a deal
for you in Russia. At that time, you know, there
was a lot of discussion if the season was even
going to start. You know, what did that look like?
I think it eventually started around Christmas, right, and then
(05:57):
that you know, basically at that point, I was like
not guaranteed to be on an NBA roster. I was
still fighting my way, you know, even after my fifth
year and I got, you know a good deal to
go to Russia with my wife, my newborn son who's
twelve now. We we took off, went to Russia, played
a season there for for kim Key Moscow, and it
(06:17):
was an incredible life experience.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah, I mean there was there was good days and
bad days.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
But for my wife and I, you know, we still
look back talk about, you know, the different experiences we had.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
There were some of the good days, like what what
do you remember?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
So the thing I remember the most is that our
team won the euro Cup, which was a big event there,
and it was just like towards the end of the season.
It was a culmination of a lot of hard work,
a lot of you know, good days, bad days. And
then I just remember my teammates. So basically our team
was consisted of six Russian players and six you know,
foreign players, non non Russians. So there was a couple
(06:54):
of Americans, we had an Australian, we had a couple
of Croatians, and I just remember hanging out with them
and getting to know that the different cultures. Uh you know,
we would we would hang out all the time, you know,
go get coffee is like a way of life over there.
But it was just super cool to get to know
uh no, no, hold a whole different way, all right.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
So you got to Miami as an assistant coach when
Jimmy Butler got there.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Talk to me about.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Sort of the fit that he was with the Heat
and how he maybe he even elevated that just sort
of on court competitiveness that the Heat just so loves to,
uh you know say that they're they're very good at right.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Yeah, So Jimmy was just like a like a perfect
match for you know, for the Miami Heat.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
He came in, he does it all. He works super hard. Uh,
he's a he's a great leader in the locker room.
And you know, the one thing you know, a lot
of us in in the Heat culture have in common
is super competitive and you know, for for better or worse,
if if things aren't going you know the way we
all think they they all should be going. We we
(08:02):
have a level of accountability, We talk to each other,
We preach eye to eye communication, you know, all these
things that you know Jimmy stands for as well. Obviously
there's moments where you know he gets frustrated if we're
not winning, but you know that we all kind of
feel like that, and it.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Was just a good match.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
And obviously you know now he's you know taking us
you know, the multiple finals, you know, multiple conference finals,
and I think it's just been a great match for
the Heat and Jimmy and and working together, you know,
towards a common goal.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
You guys had such a great run through twenty twenty,
through the bubble, and you know the couple of years
after that first round against Milwaukee and then this Game
seven against Boston.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
But this past year during the regular season.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
What because Spoe says we were close all regular season,
but from the outside looking in, you might not see that, right,
So talk to me about what was just off during
the regular sea enough to make the record be what
it was.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Yeah, I think it was a combination of things. Obviously,
availability injuries are a part of it, but also like
we we would have we would have great wins and
we would have bad losses, right, and you know sometimes
against some of the better teams we'd play better, and
against some of the other teams we you know, we
wouldn't play as well.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
That's a consistency you just don't expect, or inconsistently you
don't expect it.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Yeah, it was like a roller coaster of a season
regular season, and we just we kept grinding through it.
We stuck together. There was definitely days where we all
felt like we weren't you know, we weren't any good.
We didn't perform the way we wanted to perform.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
For a team.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Sorry to interrupt, but for a team that's been together
for a few years when you're at that point where
it's just like, what's happening? We can't figure it out?
Like what do you do to do that? What do
you do to just say, look, trust me, it's gonna
be okay.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Yeah, I think you have to maintain optimism, but then
also like address the issues. At the same time. We
had you know, we checked every box like meetings, there
was team meetings, film sessions, practices, whatever it took to
just keep grinding through while maintaining optimism and a belief
that we were gonna figure it out. The good thing
is we had super high character guys in our locker room,
(10:13):
and you know, that belief started with them. A lot
of them, you know, felt the way we felt. If
we can, if we can get it right, if we
can click at the right moment, you know, we can,
we can make something special happen. And I think you
know you you talked about Jimmy. A lot of that
even started with him in his belief you know, he
thinks when he goes on the court, he's the best player,
regardless who else is on the court. And you know,
(10:36):
we we all felt that same way.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
I wanted to ask you about you Donnis Haslam and
obviously retiring, but how much of a role did he
have and just maintaining everybody because he'd been doing it
for so long.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Yeah, he had a huge role. And obviously transitioning to
whatever he's going to do next, he's going to have
a huge role as well. But he was always the
first one speaking, the first one reminding guys when they
needed to do to better, but also encouraging guys. You
know that we were really close, and you know, you
know right away you u d he's got he's got
(11:20):
that credibility right away, he can tell anybody anything and
then they're gonna respect what he has to say. And
then I think it was a great moment that that
last game that you know, he played and he played
so well and guys were basically like, oh man, he's
he's still got it. He can do it if if,
if he needs to do it. Uh So that was
a cool kind of you know, uh springboard into the
(11:41):
playoffs and then obviously the playing games, we're still a
challenge for us. We had to crind through those, uh,
and then we just kept kept grinding through it, you know,
day by day, you know, little by little, you know.
I think Spoe mentioned in the playoffs there's beauty in
the struggle. Yes, and really that's kind of kind of
how we all approached it.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yes, if people actually listen to what he says and
not just like think it's coach talk, they'll actually understand.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I mean, it's there's meaning to what he's saying.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
It's not just coach speaking, not just trying to get people,
you know, out of the media room there. But I
wanted to just go to that first round of the playoffs.
So what was was the play in loss to Atlanta
was at the lowest point of the season because everybody
else from the outside looking in thought, oh, okay, let's
just get it right at the end, win that playoff,
it'll be all good.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah. So coming in the locker room after that game
was very discouraging. We had been beaten and been beaten
handily by Atlanta, and basically we you know, had a
day and a half to figure out, like, you know,
we got to get ready for Chicago now, and we
got to figure out how we're going to just get
one win. And the good thing going back to, you know,
(12:51):
the character of the guys in that locker room. Those
guys wanted to win, and they they wanted to keep playing.
They wanted to keep fighting together as a group. And
you could tell in the second half of the Chicago
game that that our guys, we're not going to quit
and just keep battling.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
And God for exters.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
So how is it that a team that just barely
crawled into the playoffs winning that Chicago game basically in
the fourth quarter has the type of confidence to go
into Milwaukee and take Game one. Like what were the conversations,
Like what did Jimmy, Bam or anybody do to make
anybody feel that that could happen.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
Yeah, So it started with Jimmy and Baam. Obviously they
they immediately had still believe and everybody and and the
rest of the team. Jimmy was like extremely locked in
at that point, and and we all could see it,
we could sense it. We knew he was locked in.
And then we also knew like we had just had
(13:50):
like two battle tested playing games. You know, it was
the Atlanta game in Chicago game really prepared us to
win Game one against Milwaukee. They had they had had
a lot of time off. At that point. We felt
like we were just you know, ready to go in there,
and we really just focused on getting game one and
seeing where that could get us.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
And you got game one, but you lost Tyler and
with the broken hands, like it seemed like immediately the
challenges were smacking you guys in the face, and it
didn't seem like it was an issue.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Take me to the.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Fifty six point game from Jimmy, because throughout that first
round when people say playoff Jimmy, it's because he's taking
shots he wasn't taken in the regular season, making shots
he wasn't taken in the regular season, And it's just
like a person you've just never seen before. So when
you're watching that fifty six point game, you're.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Thinking, what I'm just watching like in amazement that second half.
You know, the shots he was hitting, you know the
skill that it required, but also just his will.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
To win it was.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
It was insane and all of us are just watching
taking it in I you know, a lot of us
kept the box score from that game. Really, you know,
a lot of people were talking to how it's one
of the greatest performances you know, in playoff history, and
really we're just watching with amazement at the amount of
will to win. And those are shots, like you said,
he's not taking as many of those in the regular season.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
But he has a great feel for the game.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
He knows when he needs to score, when he needs
to get his teammates involved, and he can control the game,
you know, on both ends in so many ways.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
And I mean, I still think of Josh Hart doesn't
slide under his ankle, it might be a different finish
to the season, but the next round. I think after
the first two games, Bam got a lot of criticism, right,
And one of the things that drives me nuts is
when people criticize Bam for not being this refined offensive talent.
If Bam had that refined offensive game, he'd be the
best player in the league, right because he does everything
(15:48):
else so well on the defensive end. So talk to
me about Bam what he means to the team and
where that like offensive complaint comes up empty.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Yeah, So for us, like.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
A lot of that other stuff that people say about
Bam is just noise We're constantly reminding him, you know,
what he means to the team, how important he is
on both ends. You know, are arguably the best defender
in the league. We ask him to do so much
on that end of the floor, multiple coverages, he switches,
he guards one through five. He's just as good at
(16:22):
guarding a perimeter as he is a big And then offensively,
we we played through him a lot, even if he's
not taking the shot, even if he's not being aggressive,
we can always.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Throw the ball to him, and.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Sometimes it's just to be a pressure release, but he's
getting other guys involved, and you know, a lot of
that is is through our system that we can we
can we have the you know, option to play through
him because of his skill level, and you know a
lot of that means he's not always gonna be scoring
like maybe other people want him to do. But we
(16:56):
all fully understand how important he is to our team
on both at the ends of the floor.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
And then I just wanted to take you to that
Celtics series up three to zero. Must feel great, the
level of like ascending stress after lost one, lost two
and lost three, Like what were those experiences like and
what was that space between games six and seven, where
Spoe and Jimmy said, yeah, we're gonna go win, but
(17:21):
everybody else is like, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
Yeah. So, as as great as our run was in
the playoffs, after game six was a worse feeling than
the feeling we had when we lost to Atlanta, you know,
the los in that fashion, point one on the clock
on offensive tip and rebound and then have to go
to Boston for Game seven and pick pick, pick up
(17:46):
the crew, Riley the troops. But right after the game, uh,
Spoe was saying that, Jimmy was saying that, and I
think it really it really made everyone else believe. By
the time we got twenty four hours later, I think
everyone believed we were going to go in there and
get that win. But obviously, you know, being up three
(18:08):
to zero to Tide is uh is.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
It was a lot of pressure.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
At some point after the game, we all congratulated Spoe
on not being the first coach to go up three
to zero and then and then uh, and then lose
this series. So you know, we definitely had that going
forward as well.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
It must have been a great feeling and just the
last thing on Spo specifically because he was obviously part
of the podcast, and like that was where he grew,
like as a coach, you know, uh, coaching Lebron and
just learning and just that desire to just not be
the reason why the Heat lost. Now in twenty twenty
three is considered the best coach in the league.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
What makes him such a special coach?
Speaker 4 (18:46):
I think the fact that even though he's thought of
that way, he still is the same guy. He's still
after a regular season loss, is upset if we're not
doing things the way he wants him done if or
the way we all want things done. He's still continuing
to try to improve as a coach, as a leader,
and that's I don't think for him that's ever gonna change.
(19:10):
And obviously he's matured a lot as a coach. He's
learned a lot through experience. But he's still to this
day trying to trying to figure out today how he
can be better from yesterday and tomorrow be better than today.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
I used to say this when you were a player.
I used to say, if you want to win, play
Chris Quinn. And so now if you're hiring a coach,
if you want to win, hire Chris Quinn.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Guy is going to be really good. Chris, thank you
so much for your time. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Brother, thank you very much. H
Welcome back on isbel gutierres a host of four years
of Heat. If you haven't listened to it yet, you're
missing out. It takes you through the twenty ten to
twenty fourteen Miami Heat. Obviously Lebron was on that team,
Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and this.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Guy right here was close. He was almost on that team.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Chris quinn is his future head coach is what I
like to call him, but he's currently an assistant head
coach with the Miami Heat. Played with the Heat from
eight to ten or was it seven.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Six to ten?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Six six to ten, and then played for some other
teams and then eventually became a coach here. But I
wanted to take you back to your playing days because
you were a Notre Dame guard, All Big East first team,
You're senior season. You were actually one of the undrafted
Miami Heat stories right, talk to me about how you
ended up with Miami and just your experience there playing
(00:53):
alongside Dwayne.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah, so it it's interesting.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I was just thinking about it was seventeen years ago
now that I was here in summer League trying to
earn a spot. Uh, Basically I went undrafted in the
two thousand and six NBA draft.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
My agent called right after the draft.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
The Miami Heat were coming off the six championship. They
had most of their team back and they had a
couple of spots that you know, towards the end of
the roster that were open and they wanted a couple
of young guys. Of course, you know, they had no
draft picks that year, so there was no other guys
drafted ahead of me for the Heat. There was a
(01:31):
few of us that they signed right away basically on
a summer league training camp type deals, uh, so that
we could go in there, compete, battle it out, and eventually,
you know, try to try to make make the main roster.
You know, I was lucky enough. You know, my my
rookie year was obviously Dwayne in his prime. Shack was
(01:51):
still there, Zoe was still there, Gary Payton, Jay Will.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
It was. It was the Star Study six team. So
it was they didn't incredible experience getting to know those guys,
being in the locker room with those type of Hall
of Fame guys. Man. Obviously you mentioned Dwayne, you know
those years I was there, that was his prime. You know,
he got injured the one year then came back and
(02:16):
led the league in scoring. But just what a special
player that always rose, you know, to the occasion and
the biggest moments.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I want to go back to the year, the injury
prone year, the year that they basically didn't win a
whole lot of games, and it would just giving a
lot of people some time. But you had some great
moments in that year, any sort of memorable standout moments,
because there was one play I want to say it
was against the Phoenix Suns.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
It was just like a fast break.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I think it was an and one, and I think
you even shocked yourself with the finish. And I'm just like,
I love seeing that from players who are in the
league and maybe are surprising themselves, Like, what were some
of the highlights from your stint there?
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Yeah, it was one of those games where we were
down I think fifteen or twenty and they put in
the second unit for the fourth quarter and then we
made a big run, cut their lead I think eventually
to two or three. But it was the shot. Someone
actually asked me about it yesterday and was wondered if
it was a trivia question, if I knew who fouled
(03:11):
me when when I made that that shot, but I
actually don't remember, but I do remember the moment. I
kind of just threw it up and it went in.
But it was a lot of fun moments, you know,
a lot of moments behind the scenes of hard work. Obviously,
my first two years I played for coach Riley.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Which was an amazing experience.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
And then my last two years, basically a year and
a half was Underpo played for Spose. That was his
first two years. I actually joked with Spo all the
time that in twenty ten that he traded me away
from the Miami Heat. You know, obviously the next summer
is when they when they got to the Big Three.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
What was that like when you traded away and then
all of a sudden you turn around and be like,
oh no, Lebron just signed with the Heat.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
What just happened? Yeah, yeah, it was a bittersweet moment.
But you know, I joke with he says that the
time he didn't he didn't have a lot of pull,
But I joke with him that he traded me away,
and it was just, you know, I was happy, you know,
for the organization. Created a lot of great relationships.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Fortunately those relationships eventually led me back as a coach,
and obviously Spoe as a young coach being put in
that position and then and then doing so well with
it was super cool to see.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Yeah, I was gonna say, what you saw, what you
experienced from Spoe. He's clearly a different coach than he
was than he is now back then, But what did
you see from him in those first couple of years
and made you think, Hey, this guy's got something.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Yeah, it's always it was. It was the same concepts.
It was his work ethic. He had a ton of
grid as a head coach. Uh.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
He was always trying to.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Look for ways to improve, get better. Uh, how can
I be better as a coach? How can I how
better serve our players? And he would always look at
himself first. Uh, after a bad loss, after a win,
he was always looking in the mirror.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
How could he do better?
Speaker 4 (04:55):
How can he help the team more?
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Those are the things that have led him to become,
you know, obviously one of the one of the best
right now.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Now, after you left the Heat, you had some stints
with some other teams. You played in Russia, you played
in Cleveland. Also, talk to me about how you got
back to Miami. What was the path to get you
into coaching.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Yeah, so my fifth year I played in San Antonio
with the Spurs, which was super cool obviously, you know,
I went from pat Riley, Eric Sposha to Greg Popovich,
just three of the top you know, they just did
the top fifteen list of all time. These are these
are three the greatest of all time. Uh so I
got to learn from the from them, you know, basketball
one oh one from three of the greatest minds. My
(05:34):
sixth year playing professionally was the lockout year, right, and
uh you know, my agent called in in the middle
of the summer basically said hey, I have a deal
for you in Russia. At that time, you know, there
was a lot of discussion if the season was even
going to start. You know, what did that look like?
I think it eventually started around Christmas, right, and then
(05:57):
that you know, basically at that point, I was like
not guaranteed to be on an NBA roster. I was
still fighting my way, you know, even after my fifth
year and I got, you know a good deal to
go to Russia with my wife, my newborn son who's
twelve now. We we took off, went to Russia, played
a season there for for kim Key Moscow, and it
(06:17):
was an incredible life experience.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah, I mean there was there was good days and
bad days.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
But for my wife and I, you know, we still
look back talk about, you know, the different experiences we had.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
There were some of the good days, like what what
do you remember?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
So the thing I remember the most is that our
team won the euro Cup, which was a big event there,
and it was just like towards the end of the season.
It was a culmination of a lot of hard work,
a lot of you know, good days, bad days. And
then I just remember my teammates. So basically our team
was consisted of six Russian players and six you know,
foreign players, non non Russians. So there was a couple
(06:54):
of Americans, we had an Australian, we had a couple
of Croatians, and I just remember hanging out with them
and getting to know that the different cultures. Uh you know,
we would we would hang out all the time, you know,
go get coffee is like a way of life over there.
But it was just super cool to get to know
uh no, no, hold a whole different way, all right.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
So you got to Miami as an assistant coach when
Jimmy Butler got there.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Talk to me about.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Sort of the fit that he was with the Heat
and how he maybe he even elevated that just sort
of on court competitiveness that the Heat just so loves to,
uh you know say that they're they're very good at right.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Yeah, So Jimmy was just like a like a perfect
match for you know, for the Miami Heat.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
He came in, he does it all. He works super hard. Uh,
he's a he's a great leader in the locker room.
And you know, the one thing you know, a lot
of us in in the Heat culture have in common
is super competitive and you know, for for better or worse,
if if things aren't going you know the way we
all think they they all should be going. We we
(08:02):
have a level of accountability, We talk to each other,
We preach eye to eye communication, you know, all these
things that you know Jimmy stands for as well. Obviously
there's moments where you know he gets frustrated if we're
not winning, but you know that we all kind of
feel like that, and it.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Was just a good match.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
And obviously you know now he's you know taking us
you know, the multiple finals, you know, multiple conference finals,
and I think it's just been a great match for
the Heat and Jimmy and and working together, you know,
towards a common goal.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
You guys had such a great run through twenty twenty,
through the bubble, and you know the couple of years
after that first round against Milwaukee and then this Game
seven against Boston.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
But this past year during the regular season.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
What because Spoe says we were close all regular season,
but from the outside looking in, you might not see that, right,
So talk to me about what was just off during
the regular sea enough to make the record be what
it was.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Yeah, I think it was a combination of things. Obviously,
availability injuries are a part of it, but also like
we we would have we would have great wins and
we would have bad losses, right, and you know sometimes
against some of the better teams we'd play better, and
against some of the other teams we you know, we
wouldn't play as well.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
That's a consistency you just don't expect, or inconsistently you
don't expect it.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Yeah, it was like a roller coaster of a season
regular season, and we just we kept grinding through it.
We stuck together. There was definitely days where we all
felt like we weren't you know, we weren't any good.
We didn't perform the way we wanted to perform.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
For a team.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Sorry to interrupt, but for a team that's been together
for a few years when you're at that point where
it's just like, what's happening? We can't figure it out?
Like what do you do to do that? What do
you do to just say, look, trust me, it's gonna
be okay.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Yeah, I think you have to maintain optimism, but then
also like address the issues. At the same time. We
had you know, we checked every box like meetings, there
was team meetings, film sessions, practices, whatever it took to
just keep grinding through while maintaining optimism and a belief
that we were gonna figure it out. The good thing
is we had super high character guys in our locker room,
(10:13):
and you know, that belief started with them. A lot
of them, you know, felt the way we felt. If
we can, if we can get it right, if we
can click at the right moment, you know, we can,
we can make something special happen. And I think you
know you you talked about Jimmy. A lot of that
even started with him in his belief you know, he
thinks when he goes on the court, he's the best player,
regardless who else is on the court. And you know,
(10:36):
we we all felt that same way.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
I wanted to ask you about you Donnis Haslam and
obviously retiring, but how much of a role did he
have and just maintaining everybody because he'd been doing it
for so long.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Yeah, he had a huge role. And obviously transitioning to
whatever he's going to do next, he's going to have
a huge role as well. But he was always the
first one speaking, the first one reminding guys when they
needed to do to better, but also encouraging guys. You
know that we were really close, and you know, you
know right away you u d he's got he's got
(11:20):
that credibility right away, he can tell anybody anything and
then they're gonna respect what he has to say. And
then I think it was a great moment that that
last game that you know, he played and he played
so well and guys were basically like, oh man, he's
he's still got it. He can do it if if,
if he needs to do it. Uh So that was
a cool kind of you know, uh springboard into the
(11:41):
playoffs and then obviously the playing games, we're still a
challenge for us. We had to crind through those, uh,
and then we just kept kept grinding through it, you know,
day by day, you know, little by little, you know.
I think Spoe mentioned in the playoffs there's beauty in
the struggle. Yes, and really that's kind of kind of
how we all approached it.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yes, if people actually listen to what he says and
not just like think it's coach talk, they'll actually understand.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I mean, it's there's meaning to what he's saying.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
It's not just coach speaking, not just trying to get people,
you know, out of the media room there. But I
wanted to just go to that first round of the playoffs.
So what was was the play in loss to Atlanta
was at the lowest point of the season because everybody
else from the outside looking in thought, oh, okay, let's
just get it right at the end, win that playoff,
it'll be all good.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah. So coming in the locker room after that game
was very discouraging. We had been beaten and been beaten
handily by Atlanta, and basically we you know, had a
day and a half to figure out, like, you know,
we got to get ready for Chicago now, and we
got to figure out how we're going to just get
one win. And the good thing going back to, you know,
(12:51):
the character of the guys in that locker room. Those
guys wanted to win, and they they wanted to keep playing.
They wanted to keep fighting together as a group. And
you could tell in the second half of the Chicago
game that that our guys, we're not going to quit
and just keep battling.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
And God for exters.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
So how is it that a team that just barely
crawled into the playoffs winning that Chicago game basically in
the fourth quarter has the type of confidence to go
into Milwaukee and take Game one. Like what were the conversations,
Like what did Jimmy, Bam or anybody do to make
anybody feel that that could happen.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
Yeah, So it started with Jimmy and Baam. Obviously they
they immediately had still believe and everybody and and the
rest of the team. Jimmy was like extremely locked in
at that point, and and we all could see it,
we could sense it. We knew he was locked in.
And then we also knew like we had just had
(13:50):
like two battle tested playing games. You know, it was
the Atlanta game in Chicago game really prepared us to
win Game one against Milwaukee. They had they had had
a lot of time off. At that point. We felt
like we were just you know, ready to go in there,
and we really just focused on getting game one and
seeing where that could get us.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
And you got game one, but you lost Tyler and
with the broken hands, like it seemed like immediately the
challenges were smacking you guys in the face, and it
didn't seem like it was an issue.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Take me to the.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Fifty six point game from Jimmy, because throughout that first
round when people say playoff Jimmy, it's because he's taking
shots he wasn't taken in the regular season, making shots
he wasn't taken in the regular season, And it's just
like a person you've just never seen before. So when
you're watching that fifty six point game, you're.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Thinking, what I'm just watching like in amazement that second half.
You know, the shots he was hitting, you know the
skill that it required, but also just his will.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
To win it was.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
It was insane and all of us are just watching
taking it in I you know, a lot of us
kept the box score from that game. Really, you know,
a lot of people were talking to how it's one
of the greatest performances you know, in playoff history, and
really we're just watching with amazement at the amount of
will to win. And those are shots, like you said,
he's not taking as many of those in the regular season.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
But he has a great feel for the game.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
He knows when he needs to score, when he needs
to get his teammates involved, and he can control the game,
you know, on both ends in so many ways.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
And I mean, I still think of Josh Hart doesn't
slide under his ankle, it might be a different finish
to the season, but the next round. I think after
the first two games, Bam got a lot of criticism, right,
And one of the things that drives me nuts is
when people criticize Bam for not being this refined offensive talent.
If Bam had that refined offensive game, he'd be the
best player in the league, right because he does everything
(15:48):
else so well on the defensive end. So talk to
me about Bam what he means to the team and
where that like offensive complaint comes up empty.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Yeah, So for us, like.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
A lot of that other stuff that people say about
Bam is just noise We're constantly reminding him, you know,
what he means to the team, how important he is
on both ends. You know, are arguably the best defender
in the league. We ask him to do so much
on that end of the floor, multiple coverages, he switches,
he guards one through five. He's just as good at
(16:22):
guarding a perimeter as he is a big And then offensively,
we we played through him a lot, even if he's
not taking the shot, even if he's not being aggressive,
we can always.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Throw the ball to him, and.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Sometimes it's just to be a pressure release, but he's
getting other guys involved, and you know, a lot of
that is is through our system that we can we
can we have the you know, option to play through
him because of his skill level, and you know a
lot of that means he's not always gonna be scoring
like maybe other people want him to do. But we
(16:56):
all fully understand how important he is to our team
on both at the ends of the floor.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
And then I just wanted to take you to that
Celtics series up three to zero. Must feel great, the
level of like ascending stress after lost one, lost two
and lost three, Like what were those experiences like and
what was that space between games six and seven, where
Spoe and Jimmy said, yeah, we're gonna go win, but
(17:21):
everybody else is like, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
Yeah. So, as as great as our run was in
the playoffs, after game six was a worse feeling than
the feeling we had when we lost to Atlanta, you know,
the los in that fashion, point one on the clock
on offensive tip and rebound and then have to go
to Boston for Game seven and pick pick, pick up
(17:46):
the crew, Riley the troops. But right after the game, uh,
Spoe was saying that, Jimmy was saying that, and I
think it really it really made everyone else believe. By
the time we got twenty four hours later, I think
everyone believed we were going to go in there and
get that win. But obviously, you know, being up three
(18:08):
to zero to Tide is uh is.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
It was a lot of pressure.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
At some point after the game, we all congratulated Spoe
on not being the first coach to go up three
to zero and then and then uh, and then lose
this series. So you know, we definitely had that going
forward as well.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
It must have been a great feeling and just the
last thing on Spo specifically because he was obviously part
of the podcast, and like that was where he grew,
like as a coach, you know, uh, coaching Lebron and
just learning and just that desire to just not be
the reason why the Heat lost. Now in twenty twenty
three is considered the best coach in the league.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
What makes him such a special coach?
Speaker 4 (18:46):
I think the fact that even though he's thought of
that way, he still is the same guy. He's still
after a regular season loss, is upset if we're not
doing things the way he wants him done if or
the way we all want things done. He's still continuing
to try to improve as a coach, as a leader,
and that's I don't think for him that's ever gonna change.
(19:10):
And obviously he's matured a lot as a coach. He's
learned a lot through experience. But he's still to this
day trying to trying to figure out today how he
can be better from yesterday and tomorrow be better than today.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
I used to say this when you were a player.
I used to say, if you want to win, play
Chris Quinn. And so now if you're hiring a coach,
if you want to win, hire Chris Quinn.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Guy is going to be really good. Chris, thank you
so much for your time. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Brother, thank you very much. H
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