08/26/2026
Erik Spoelstra ’92 was introduced to the special needs community roughly 10 years ago when one of his neighbors invited him to a fundraiser at the Miami Learning Experience, returning to the school again and again until, before he knew it, Spoelstra was a fabric of the community.
Three thousand miles away in Portland, one of Spoelstra’s old UP buddies was growing attached to the special needs community through a different source: His daughter.
The second child and only girl of Kasey and Jami (Costello) Flicker ’96, Sophie had a rare and incurable genetic disease called Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC), which causes non-cancerous tumors or lesions to grow in the brain and other areas of the body. Sophie was having hundreds of tiny seizures every day, and the infantile spasms were disrupting her cognitive development.
Flicker and Spoelstra just missed each other at UP, but their relationship stretches back to their 20s. They reunited during the Heat’s championship run in the early 2010s and Flicker will never forget how Spoelstra, at the height of the pressure-cooker, made a point of asking about Sophie and her condition.
“Erik always found the time, even in the depths of the Finals, to learn more about Sophie and offer compassion and empathy to my situation,” Flicker said.
Years later, Flicker hatched an idea for Spoelstra to host a basketball camp for Sophie and other special needs athletes. The Heat Basketball Clinic, as it wraps up its third year, has blossomed into a signature event for the community.
🔗 Read the full story from Portland Magazine here: https://bit.ly/4yargQ3
✏️ Joe Freeman ’99
