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Phoenix Suns coach candidate Chris Quinn helped Miami Heat stay together this season

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Phoenix Suns coach candidate Chris Quinn helped Miami Heat stay together this season


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The Miami Heat experienced one of their toughest seasons in recent memory.

Going 37-45, Miami suffered its first losing record since 2018-19.

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The Jimmy Butler drama ultimately led to trading the star forward just two years removed from him leading the Heat to the 2023 NBA Finals.

The Heat emerged from the play-in to make the playoffs as an eighth seed only to have the Cleveland Cavaliers sweep them in the first round. Miami lost Game 4 by 55 points, suffering the worst margin of defeat in a game to close a series.

Through it all, Chris Quinn remained steady.

League sources say the Heat’s associate head coach helped keep Miami together and made sure the team didn’t go “sideways.”

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Now, Quinn is a head coach candidate for the Phoenix Suns, who also experienced a disappointing and drama-filled season that ended with just 36 wins and the firing of Mike Budenholzer after one season.

Cleveland Cavaliers assistants Jordan Ott and Johnnie Bryant, Oklahoma City Thunder assistant Dave Bliss, Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, Brooklyn Nets assistant Steve Hetzel, Dallas Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego, Suns assistant David Fizdale and Quinn are candidates for the job, league sources confirmed to The Arizona Republic this week.

Quinn has been an assistant under Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra since 2015. He previously worked as an assistant for the Heat’s G League team, Sioux Falls Skyforce, in the 2014-15 season.

He also played three seasons for the Heat, with the first two under Pat Riley (2006-08) and the third one for Spoelstra (2008-09).

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Quinn is Spoelstra’s “right hand man” when it comes to in-game adjustments, sources say. He has been in contention for NBA head coaching vacancies in recent years.

Quinn’s ability to connect with players is deemed impressive. He’s big on player development as evidenced by him leading the charge to have coaches available 24/7 for players to work on their game.

A Notre Dame graduate, Quinn played a role in the development of shooting guard Tyler Herro, who became a first-time All-Star for the Heat this season.

Herro averaged a career-high 23.9 points in his sixth NBA season out of Kentucky.

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Quinn was a director of player development on the collegiate level at Northwestern before joining the Heat.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.





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Miami, FL

London woman arrested at Miami airport with 130 pounds of marijuana hidden in suitcases, authorities say

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London woman arrested at Miami airport with 130 pounds of marijuana hidden in suitcases, authorities say



A London‑bound passenger was arrested Monday at Miami International Airport after federal officers found more than 130 pounds of vacuum‑sealed marijuana – 60 bundles in all – packed into two suitcases, authorities said.

Begum Mulazimoglu, 22, of London, is facing a first‑degree felony charge of trafficking in cannabis after she was taken into custody before boarding a Virgin Atlantic flight to Heathrow Airport, according to an arrest affidavit. Mulazimoglu appeared before a judge on Tuesday.

Suitcases flagged during outbound check

Begum Mulazimoglu, 22.

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Miami-Dade Corrections


The Miami‑Dade Sheriff’s Office said a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer flagged two hardsided suitcases during an outbound inspection after detecting a strong odor of marijuana.

According to authorities, Mulazimoglu claimed ownership of the bags and had about $1,000 worth of U.S. and British currency – $330 in U.S. dollars and £530 in British pounds (about $713 USD) – in her possession.

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Affidavit details marijuana discovery

An arrest affidavit said Homeland Security Investigations notified the Miami‑Dade Sheriff’s Office after the passenger was detained with the two marijuana-stuffed suitcases at the airport.

An X‑ray scan revealed 60 bundles, 30 in each suitcase, weighing a combined 59.74 kilograms (131.7 pounds), along with two Apple AirTags hidden inside, the affidavit said. The bundles were sealed in black nylon vacuum‑packed bags.

Federal prosecution declined

An Assistant United States Attorney declined federal prosecution, according to the affidavit. 

The Miami‑Dade Sheriff’s Office was notified, and Mulazimoglu was provided a meal before being taken into custody and transported to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

The property was impounded at Miami‑Dade Sheriff’s Office headquarters.

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Russian air attack on Ukraine kills three and sparks sweeping outages

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Russian air attack on Ukraine kills three and sparks sweeping outages


  • Broad Russian attack follows Miami peace talks
  • Ukraine says western regions hit hardest
  • At least three killed, including child, Kyiv says
  • Poland scrambles jets

KYIV, Dec 23 (Reuters) – Russian missile and drone attacks killed at least three Ukrainians including a child on Tuesday, triggering widespread emergency power cuts and prompting neighbouring Poland to scramble jets.

The attacks, days after another round of U.S.-led talks to end the nearly four-year-old war, hit energy facilities in western regions the hardest, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.

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Poland, a NATO member bordering western Ukraine, said Polish and allied aircraft were deployed to protect Polish airspace after Russian strikes targeted areas near the border.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had targeted at least 13 regions as Ukrainians prepared to celebrate Christmas with their families in an attack that showed Russian President Vladimir Putin was not serious about peace talks.

“Putin still cannot accept that he must stop killing,” Zelenskiy wrote on X. “And that means that the world is not putting enough pressure on Russia. Now is the time to respond.”

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YOUNG CHILD KILLED

A four-year-old child was killed in the central Zhytomyr region, another person in Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine and a third person outside the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where local officials said at least five were also wounded.

Russia’s defence ministry said it had attacked Ukrainian energy and military facilities and captured two villages along the front line in Ukraine. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv, which often disputes Russian reports of territorial gains.

Moscow has stepped up strikes on Ukrainian energy and logistics to boost pressure on Kyiv as it seeks to alter the terms of a U.S.-backed peace deal. Ukraine has targeted Russian energy exports.

A Ukrainian overnight drone attack sparked a fire at an industrial facility in Russia’s southern Stavropol region, the region’s governor, Vladimir Vladimirov, said. Authorities also reported a fire at the fuel oil supply pipeline at the port of Taman in Krasnodar region, saying it had been put out.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 635 drones and 38 missiles, most of which had been downed.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said all regions were experiencing emergency power outages, adding that nearly all consumers in the western Rivne, Ternopil and Khmelnytskyi regions were without power early on Tuesday.

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Critical and energy infrastructure was damaged in the northern Chernihiv, western Lviv and southern Odesa regions, local authorities said. Private energy firm DTEK said one of its thermal power plants had suffered damage.

Weekend peace talks in Miami brought together U.S. officials with Ukrainian and European delegations, alongside separate contacts with Russian representatives, as Washington tested the scope for a settlement.

Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede its eastern Donbas region and significantly restrict its military capabilities before it stops fighting, terms which Zelenskiy has rejected.

Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Dan Peleschuk; Writing by Lidia Kelly and Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Michael Perry, Philippa Fletcher

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab



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Miami, FL

Body camera footage shows fatal police shooting in Miami

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Body camera footage shows fatal police shooting in Miami


Authorities release body camera footage from fatal Miami police shooting

MIAMI — Newly released body camera footage from a 2024 deadly police shooting shows the moment officers pulled the trigger.

It happened on June 25 of last year in a home off Northeast 25th Street in Miami.

According to Miami police, a man called 911 to report his roommate, a woman identified as Mariel Rivera Samuel, was charging him with a kitchen knife.

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The man says the two don’t know one another but were renting rooms through AirBnb at the home.

When officers spoke to Samuel, she said her roommate tampered with her drink, implying that he urinated in her apple juice, according to the footage.

Officers said they were going to take Samuel to a mental health facility for a Baker Act, but she came at them with a knife.

A State Attorney’s Office close out memo said, “Rivera-Samuel came within inches of stabbing or cutting Officer Burgos.”

Police say it was then they were forced to fire.

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“According to that close out memo, the State Attorney’s Office determined the shooting was legally justified,” said Miami Police Chief Manny Morales.

The SAO said the case is officially closed.

Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.

Bridgette Matter

Bridgette Matter joined the Local 10 News team as a reporter in July 2021. Before moving to South Florida, she began her career in South Bend, Indiana and spent six years in Jacksonville as a reporter and weekend anchor.

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