Erik Spoelstra makes painful admission about Celtics stars

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

Erik Spoelstra makes painful admission about trio of Celtics stars

By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated Apr 2, 2025 6:40 PM ET

The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics have had many great battles over the years, but Erik Spoelstra decided to make a painful admission about his Eastern Conference rival on Wednesday.

Spoelstra spoke with the media just before the Heat took on the Celtics at TD Garden in Boston. One of the questions he was asked was about working with Celtics stars Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where Spoelstra was an assistant on Team USA head coach Steve Kerr's staff.

Spoelstra joked that he hated himself for how much he enjoyed being around the trio of Celtics stars.

"I mentioned to all of the Celtics from that summer that I hated myself for actually liking them. And then admitting it, I hated myself even more. ... Quality human beings, great competitors, great basketball players," Spoelstra said.

Erik Spoelsta on coaching White, Holiday and Tatum with Team USA: “I mentioned to all of the Celtics from that summer that I hated myself for actually liking them. And then admitting it, I hated myself even more.”

“Quality human beings, great competitors, great basketball… pic.twitter.com/1DhOKUrcFu
— Zack Cox (@zm_cox) April 2, 2025

Spoelstra has been the head coach of the Heat since 2008. He has coached players like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler against fellow All-Stars like Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Tatum and others. There is a natural hatred between Miami and Boston because of the countless times the two teams have stood in each other's way.

As good coaches do, Spoelstra put all of that aside during the Olympics. The end result was a gold medal for Team USA, so it would be hard for him to look back at the run with anything but fondness. Just don't expect Spoelstra to admit it the next time the Celtics and Heat square off in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Steve DelVecchio

Steve is a veteran writer who has covered a variety of sports and pop culture topics for more than 15 years. In addition to Yardbarker, his work has been featured on prominent digital publications including Larry Brown Sports, MSN and FOX Sports. The UConn graduate has published more than 40,000 stories and is one of the most experienced trending news writers in the country

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