Report: Heat have 'expressed interest' in hiring Sergio Scariolo as an assistant

The Miami Heat could be looking to bring in a fresh voice this summer.

Not just a fresh voice, but one of the most respected minds internationally.

According to Eurohoops.net, the Miami Heat have “expressed interest” in adding Sergio Scariolo as an assistant under head coach Erik Spoelstra, following a report last week that he was “traveling to the United States to interview with an NBA Franchise,” according to Alex Molina.

🚨 Los Miami Heat son la franquicia de la NBA que se ha interesado por Sergio Scariolo, al que quieren como entrenador asociado de Erik Spoelstra. Más info en @EurohoopsES

🚨 The Miami Heat expressed interest in Scariolo as associate coach of Spoelstra. More on @Eurohoopsnet pic.twitter.com/Hnh3ucQuCD
— Alex Molina (@alex30mp) June 2, 2025

This report comes on the heels of Heat associate head coach Chris Quinn being among the final few candidates for the Phoenix Suns’ head coaching job. Quinn is Spoelstra’s longest-tenured assistant.

Scariolo, 64, was last an NBA assistant under former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse from 2018-21, winning an NBA Title in his first year there. The longtime Italian head coach has a long track record of success internationally.

He’s currently in his second stint as Spain’s National Team head coach, a position he’s held since 2015. In his career with Spain, he’s won four EuroBasket titles and one World Cup.

With various club teams across Europe, Scariolo’s won one EuroCup, an Italian League championship, two Spanish League Championships, two Spanish Cup championships with one Russian Cup title, among others.

The Miami Heat have multiple ties to international players, including one of the best point guards in franchise history, Goran Dragic (Slovenian), as well as Nikola Jovic and Pelle Larsson, who will represent Serbia and Sweden, respectively, in this summer’s EuroBasket.

Here is what Sports Illustrated’s Aaron Rose wrote about Scariolo when he talked to BasketNews’ Augustas Saliauskas two years ago:

“Scariolo is an Xs-and-Os mastermind. While Nick Nurse gets all the credit for Toronto’s innovative defensive schemes over the past few years that famously included those janky box-and-ones, Scariolo was behind the scenes from 2018 to 2021 no doubt helping to devise those plans, Šuliauskas said,” Rose wrote.

“Offensively, Scariolo is adaptive and plays to his team’s strengths. His offensive playbook with those veteran Gasol-led Spanish teams was very different from the one he used when 6-foot-5 point guard Lorenzo Brown led the Spaniards last year. He plays through his best players, Šuliauskas said, adapting to his teams everywhere he goes.”