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Grantland Archives: Spoelstra in the Philippines

June 22, 2012

Last August, I watched Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra hoist a giant jug of coconut wine in his uncle’s backyard in Los Baños, Philippines, and tell his family that next year, he hoped to bring back an NBA championship trophy. It was the closest Spoelstra, the famously self-effacing and tight-lipped coach, would come to bluster […]

Spoelstra in the Philippines

September 28, 2011

Somewhere north of the U.S. Embassy in Manila the white charter bus carrying Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra made a wrong turn. The group, which included Spoelstra, two NBA employees, a handful of bodyguards, and a driver, was headed toward Torres High School, where Spoelstra planned to lead a basketball clinic. For now, however, they […]