Luke's Gospel: Fire Erik Spoelstra

Image via Miami Heat/NBAE

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra.

​Luther Campbell, AKA Uncle Luke, has never been shy about sharing his opinion. The former frontman for Miami's wonderfully raunchy rap act 2 Live Crew made history in 1992 when the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed his right to be as horny as he wants to be. Throughout his controversial career, Campbell has traversed the worlds of politics, sports, and entertainment, so Riptide is providing a forum for his crazy-ass views on current events. We'll call it Luke's Gospel -- and here's what he had to say: "New Times. It's the perfect place for me. I am a free-speech guy. It's just a match made in Heaven. Can you believe it? Me turned loose on the world in New Times. Wow."

So here's the first installment:

I've been a Miami Heat season ticket holder since day one. I used to sit next to former Miami City Manager Joe Arriola and his kids. Joe and I got thrown out of a couple of games. He got kicked out one time because he cussed out film director/New York Knicks fan Spike Lee. I had told Joe that I didn't like that motherfucker because he had gone on Arsenio Hall talking about me like a dog. But I digress.

The biggest mistake Heat president Pat Riley made was when he screwed over now-Orlando Magic/then-Miami Heat head coach Stan Van Gundy. He was the coach that Riley developed. It wasn't current Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. You see what Van Gundy is doing now in Orlando. You saw what Van Gundy did when he had D-Wade, Caron Butler, and Lamar Odom. He went to the playoffs. He almost got to the championship in Shaq's first year with the Heat.

One thing about the NBA is that it is a good-ol'-boy system from the players' standpoint. A guy like ESPN analyst and former Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson commands respect to a large degree. Charlotte Bobcats head coach Larry Brown is the best. If he was able to get the best out of Allen Iverson for all of those years, he can get it out of any player. But when you have a guy who is young and inexperienced like Spoelstra (who never played or coached in the NBA), players are not going to respect him.

Today, Riley is the one holding back the Heat, but it will be hard to move him. You have to do it in stages. First, get rid of Spoelstra and bring in an experienced coach. Then, you gotta bring in some help for Dwyane Wade. If the Heat is not successful after that, Riley needs to go.