Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra often talks about the impact of players beyond statistics.
The most recent example of this was his praise for veteran guard Delon Wright after the Heat’s 121-110 win over the Sacramento Kings. Wright finished his Heat debut with 13 points, five assists and two steals. Despite Bam Adebayo and Jaime Jaquez Jr. scoring 20 points each, Spoelstra said Wright was the “player of the game”.
“The player of the game in the locker room for us was Delon,” Spoelstra said. “I don’t think his stats were spectacular for people outside, but he plays winning basketball. He guarded, and he was very skilled on offense because he knew how to make the right play. [In 35 minutes he didn’t lose the ball and made some big moves. The threes, but also the rebounding and the free throws at the end of the game were very important.”
Wright reflected on his performance and said he wanted to show up for his first game with enough playing time after almost a month.
“I just wanted to come out and play the way I know how to play,” Wright said. “Take care of the ball, play good defense and get defensive rebounds. I knew the rest would take care of itself.”
This performance is certainly inspiring for a Heat backcourt that has struggled with injuries and a lack of depth. Wright may be able to provide the team with the solid guard play it has been looking for. He embraces Miami’s “next man up” mentality as motivation to continue that success.
“Over the years, I’ve known what to expect,” Wright said. “It’s always about the next guy in line. Every time we played the Fever and they had guys out, the next guy stepped up and they still played the same basketball. I knew I was going to try to continue that and play good team basketball.”