Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra praised the way Caleb Martin competes/has accepted his role after Monday’s 103-84 Game 7 road win vs. the Boston Celtics (averaged 19.3 PPG/6.4 RPG/1.7 APG/0.9 SPG/60.2% FG/48.9% 3-PT/87.5% FT on the series).
(via Bally Sports Sun):
Reporter: “Caleb [Martin] came very, very close to winning the Conference Finals MVP, just a couple of votes. Just to put it simply, what did he mean, and especially his offense, mean to you in this series?”
Spoelstra: “It’s been amazing. If you’re a real competitor and it’s in your soul, and that’s what Caleb is, he’s a competitor. Every bit the competitor that you talk about with Jimmy [Butler] or Bam [Adebayo] or whatever. Caleb is a competitor. You get to the higher stakes, the further you get along, the more competitors are going to reveal themselves. Game 7s, or get to the Conference Finals, it’s not for everybody in this association. Otherwise more players, more teams would do it. You have to be wired a little bit differently, and Caleb is. He’s pure. He competes on both ends. Lays it all out there for everybody to see. He’s accepted different roles. But we needed him to be more of a player. With Tyler [Herro] and Vic [Oladipo] out, we’ve needed more offense. Quite frankly, we’ve needed more guys like Gabe [Vincent] and Caleb to show how much they’ve improved with their player development. But yeah, he has so much respect in that locker room just because of how hard he competes. It’s like his last breath on every single possession, and I love the guy for that.”
