Miami Heat

Heat assistant coach Keith Smart is back on the sidelines

Published Jan. 12, 2016 5:43 p.m. ET

foxsports

Heat assistant Keith Smart has missed the last month or so to endure treatment on a rare skin cancer with which he was recently diagnosed. Now though, there is good news: Smart is back with the team.

From Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel:

Smart knows what it is to lead. He's been a head coach three times before, of the Kings, Warriors and Cavaliers. Now, he's back where he belongs, returning for Monday morning's shootaround and the evening's game against the Warriors.

"It's an incredibly scary situation and all of us were rocked by it," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "His positive attitude and relentless perseverance is so infectious. And even when we first got the news, he said it so matter-of-factly. And it was all about, 'Well, I'm going to get this, now let's talk about the game plan,' while I'm sitting there stunned and shell-shocked.

"It's absolutely great to have him back, and even maybe sooner than we would have anticipated when we first heard the news."