Brian Windhorst

I'm not saying anything negative about him at all, but I would not say that he made Phil Jackson and Red Auerbach's record books quake with his performance.

You sometimes see...

unexpected transactions like that in the NBA.

Yeah, I would agree.

Well, the power of the NBA star is greatest other than maybe the super-duper star quarterback in the NFL.

The interesting thing is the coach that LeBron didn't get fired, he really wanted Eric Spolstra fired.

Not so much, I think he wanted Pat Riley to be the coach because I think he thought they would be better.

But he absolutely wanted Eric Spolstra fired his first year in Miami.

And Pat Riley said, yeah, I'm the boss here, not you.

Yeah.

And that decision, I remember this vividly.

I mean, we're far afield here, Tony, but I remember this vividly.

I thought there was going to be a day or two where I was like, the Spolster's not going to survive this.

He'll be fired in the next 48 hours because I had just seen this, and Spolster was in his second year as coach.

We didn't know much about Eric Spolster at the time.

And I remember him arriving to speak to the media defiantly

Almost like he was an inch taller.

He was so defiant.

And I remember thinking, boy, he really has the backing of management.

It turned out, I mean, the story has been told for years that Riley and Spolstra both told LeBron, it ain't happening, buddy.