Michael Beasley’s career resurgence has been one of the best stories in the NBA this season. The former No. 2 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft has bounced around during his professional career, and over the last few weeks, he’s been an important player to the success of the New York Knicks due to his ability to score.
Beasley’s career seemed to have stalled out before coming to New York, as a myriad of pit stops just never worked out after he averaged a career-high 19.2 points per game in 2010-11. And in his eyes, one of the places where he set up shop several times featured a coach who never believed in him.
That coach is Erik Spoelstra, who coached Beasley during all three of the small forward’s stints in Miami. The Knicks and the Heat will square off on Friday, and while speaking to the New York Post on Wednesday, Beasley was critical of his former head coach.
“I feel I could’ve gotten more out of that organization,’’ Beasley told The Post on Wednesday after scoring a team-high 20 points in the 121-103 loss to the Wizards. “I feel Spo’ could’ve believed in me a lot more than he did. It’s in the past. [There’s] no love lost.”
Told he went to play for Spoelstra three separate times, Beasley said, “I had no choice.”
If this is true, hearing Beasley explain his experience in Miami like this is heartbreaking. Obviously there are two sides to every story, but being a guy who went to a place where he knew he wasn’t wanted because that was the only option available is so sad. But still, both sides seem to be doing well: Beasley’s been great this season, while the Heat look like a team that could make it to the postseason.
