Inside The Heat

Heat's Erik Spoelstra And Wife Give An Assist To Coronavirus First Responders

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and his wife, Nikki, donated food to first responders working at COVID-19 testing centers

Shandel Richardson

They are playfully referred to a Spo-isms in the media. 

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has earned a reputation for delivering cliche responses to questions from reporters. One of his usual answers spilled into his efforts to help during the coronavirus outbreak. On Thursday, Spoelstra and his wife, Nikki, donated more than 140 meals from Lime Fresh Mexican Grill to first responders working at three South Florida COVID-19 testing sites. 

The restaurant chain used a Spo-ism to thank him. 

"A team is a family, and we’re in this together," Lime Fresh posted on its Instagram page ... "Coach Spo may have said this about our @miamiheat team originally, but he proved it off the court today when he and wife, @nikkispo helped #LIMEthefrontline with their donations of over 140 LIME burrito bags to the firefighters, police, and military at three #covi̇d19 testing sites."

Spoelstra is the latest from the Heat organization to offer assistance during the pandemic. When the NBA announced it was suspending the season March 11, team owner Micky Arison agreed to compensate all part-time employees who work on a game-by-game basis. He later donated $1 million to worker relief efforts and partnered with a group to provide 100 million means for those affected by the crisis. 

Heat forward Meyers Leonard has raised nearly $300,000 by hosting online gaming tournaments. Last week he tallied $70,000 during a 24-hour Twitch session.

"This is not a time to just sit around and do nothing," Leonard said. "This is a time to take advantage of not only spending time together, but also doing things that we wouldn’t normally have time to do, number one. And number two, how do we continue to impact people at a high level?"

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

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