MIAMI (AP) 鈥� Upon hearing that the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors of about 68,000 fans at their game Friday night, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra set a new goal.
He鈥檇 like to see 100,000 at a game.
鈥淥ne of these days we鈥檝e got to do something outside and pack 100,000 down here in south Florida,鈥� Spoelstra said after the Heat beat the Milwaukee Bucks 108-102 on Thursday night. 鈥淟et鈥檚 do that. Make that happen.鈥�
And a few seconds later, he even had the site picked out: loanDepot Park, home of baseball鈥檚 Miami Marlins. The stadium has a retractable roof, though it would take quite a bit of extra seating 鈥� the ballpark has a listed capacity of about 37,000.
鈥淕et the roof, open it up, let鈥檚 do it, 100,000,鈥� Spoelstra said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 my call.鈥�
It's unclear whether the notion 鈥� a spur-of-the-moment answer by Spoelstra 鈥� will be taken seriously. The NBA has played a handful of preseason games outdoors, and the WNBA played a regular-season game at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the site of tennis' U.S. Open, in 2008.
The Spurs and Warriors are playing Friday at the Alamodome, the Spurs鈥� former home in San Antonio. It鈥檚 possible that, with standing room tickets, the Spurs could host about 68,000 people.
They鈥檙e assured of breaking a record that has stood for nearly 25 years. The biggest crowd at an NBA regular-season game 鈥� measured by tickets distributed 鈥� is 62,046 who gathered to watch Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls meet the Atlanta Hawks at the Georgia Dome on March 27, 1998.
Spoelstra was unaware of the Spurs-Warriors game setup until Thursday night.
鈥淎m I living in a hole? Have they been talking about that a lot? I didn鈥檛 know,鈥� Spoelstra said.
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Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
