The NBA has landed in Singapore!!!!! ...and hen promptly left the following day. On a stop during their South East Asian leg of their NBA Fit tour, Miami Head Coach Erik Spoelstra came out to teach a coaching clinic for local coaches and encourage kids to stay fit and exercise. When we first spoke with NBA Asia a while ago, we discussed them making an appearance in the country to inspire locals to participate in basketball and raise awareness. The people around the office are not the biggest basketball fans, so when the NBA said they were bringing a "high profile coach we were all sure to know" I wondered just how many would actually know him. The confirmed it would be Spoelstra, and no one had a clue who he was. I spent the rest of the day educating the office on who he was and what his accomplishments were. I shouldn't be surprised, when most people in the office don't know how coach K is.
Coach Spoelstra arrived and we got our clinic set up. The people from the NBA were great and they jumped right into the clinic. I had the chance to speak with Spo and we chatted about Oregon since he is from Portland, and how he should come back to Eugene for a game this year. I also asked him what it was like to be coaching arguably the SECOND best player in the league? I made sure he knew that Kobe was still the best player, and tried to hide my Laker bias as much as possible when he made the kids huddle up and say "Go Heat" before starting the clinic. It was great to get the kids involved, and everyone seemed very motivated from him being here. Lots of pictures were taken, and lots of autographs were signed. When asked why I didn't try to get his autograph, I reminded my coworkers that the Heat suck.
Sounds like a great event.
ReplyDelete