Filipino-American coach Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat has the distinction of being the only Asian-American head coach in any American major league sport, but that might cease to be the case if his team continues to struggle.

He’s on the hot seat now, as Filipinos would say, in a major-major way as the Heat have stumbled to a mediocre 10-8 record, a disappointing mark for a team that was expected to bulldoze the competition after luring LeBron James and Chris Bosh to join Dwyane Wade in South Beach.

Things seem to have gone south between Spoelstra and James, after video caught the two-time reigning NBA regular season MVP bumping his coach on the way to the bench during a timeout in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks. While both parties have played down the incident, ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported yesterday that Heat players have grown increasingly dissatisfied with their coach. The story comes after the Heat conducted a players-only meeting after losing to Dallas.

But the real curious thing about the report is Broussard’s involvement itself; last summer, he was in the middle of the scrum as LeBron was making up his mind about where to play, and he was among the first people to report that James was taking his talents to South Beach. Broussard, an Akron, Ohio native like James, is known to be very close to the LeBron camp, and pundits online have put two and two together to figure out that the reporter’s sources for the story were the same people behind LeBron’s much-reviled“Decision” television special last summer – and now they’re throwing Spoelstra under the bus.

Some see it as a power play by the LeBron camp, a test not just for Spoelstra but for Heat president Pat Riley. LeBron’s public display of disaffection for the coach forces Riley’s hand, and it’s interesting to see how Riles would react, if he would kowtow to his star like the Cleveland front office did. Spoelstra, after all, has been Riley’s fair-haired coaching child for years, the one he has been grooming to take over the position.

Spoelstra and James were supposed to have had a pre-game meeting today to discuss their issues, although who knows how effective that will actually be. The coach himself has downplayed the problems, saying that it’s natural for any struggling team.

And well, that’s kind of the point: This Heat team isn’t supposed to struggle, not with their three stars, even though they don’t have a bench, their point guards stink, and they don’t have anyone to protect the rim. The way these things work, they’re going to need a fall guy if they fall short of expectations, and it’ll be easier to get rid of the young coach than any of the players with max contracts.

(It’ s curious to note that all this drama surrounding James is happening the same week he’s making his return to Cleveland, which is pretty apt; Ohio will welcome back their drama king.)

There are already enough questions on Spoelstra’s job security as it is. Last week, Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson added fuel to the fire by openly speculating that the young coach could be replaced if the Heat’s performance does not improve. Interestingly, Riley was deafeningly silent on the matter, not giving a public vote of confidence for his ward. It led to this hilarious parody video from the guys at The Basketball Jones about Riley potentially replacing Spoelstra, just as the Heat president once did with former Heat coach Stan Van Gundy:



A few weeks ago, I jokingly asked my buddy Toff Rada on Twitter if it was alright to start making Erik Spoelstra-to-Smart-Gilas jokes yet. Now a lot of things can still happen between now and June, and Spoelstra could turn this thing around. But it still wouldn’t hurt if Smart Gilas team manager Frankie Lim had Coach Spo’s phone number around. You know, just in case he becomes available.

At least anonymous people connected with Smart Gilas do not publicly bash their coach. Oh, wait.