To some, it's as if Chris Quinn never left, considering at 31 he's back with the Miami Heat.

For while, even after he was traded by the Heat in 2010, it felt like he never left, considering what he experienced in one of his ensuing adventures, when the scrappy guard spent the 2011-12 season with Khimki Moscow Region.

"We had to have a driver, my family did, because of how crazy the drivers were over there," he said during a break from his latest basketball turn, as a Heat assistant coach. "It was hard for me to figure out even what the driving laws were, left turns from the right lane. Defensive driving was at its premium. Our drivers definitely earned the money."

From the unpredictable roads of Moscow to the capricious streets of Miami, Quinn has navigated himself back to a place that felt like home from the moment he joined the Heat in the 2006 offseason after going undrafted out of Notre Dame that year.

"We've always kept in touch," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who was an assistant for the start of Quinn's playing tenure with the Heat. "And when I coached Chris, I always thought he would eventually make a good coach one day. I viewed him as a coach on the floor, somebody I really respect to get every ounce out of his ability to end up playing almost seven years in this league.

"And we kept in touch over the years. In fact, this past year, when we were in Chicago, we got together for dinner and I told him then that, 'Hey, one of these days if this is truly what you want to do, let's continue to talk. Down the line I may be coming after you.' And it happened a little bit sooner than we even thought about back then."

At the time of the conversation, Quinn was transitioning to coaching, having signed on to Chris Collins' staff at Northwestern University as director of player development after being cut by the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2013 offseason.

"Ever since I left here, Coach Spo and I have always kept in contact," Quinn said. "When I got into coaching last year, I kind of looked at him as a mentor. I would always rattle ideas off of him. Obviously I gained a lot of respect for him while I was here and just kept the relationship going and when the opportunity presented itself, it was an opportunity I was very excited about."

Just as Spoelstra did, when he began his climb through the Heat's video department, Quinn thought it was never too early to take his next step.

"I was approaching the part of my career where I could go back to Europe or figure out what I was going to do next," he said. "It was hard for me to think about my life without basketball being involved in some way. The love for the game, I think, carried over. For me, it was just always something I've been a part of, something I continue to love."

So here he stands, in a hybrid position, with player-development responsibilities with both the Heat and their NBA Development League minor-league affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, where he spent part of this past week instead of with the Heat in Brazil.

"We always said when he was here, we always thought Quinny would be a coach," guard Dwyane Wade said, "somebody who would work around the game, maybe even be in management one day."

For now, Quinn finds himself coaching players older than himself, including his former backcourt partner Wade.

"When Coach brought it to my attention, that he was thinking about it, I was very pro Quinny in him coming back," Wade said. "He's only 31, but you've got to use the NBA platform to move to the next phase of his life. I'm very happy for him that he can start at a young age."

Having spent three seasons with the Heat, having played for Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs, having experienced the depths of the NBA with the New Jersey Nets and Cavaliers, and then having toiled in Russia, Spain and the D-League, seasoning is not a concern.

"It's not an issue to me," the married father of two said. "Obviously I'm early in my coaching career and I'm learning and growing every day."

IN THE LANE

NAME GAME: No, the nickname jerseys won't be back for the Heat this season, with the varieties for 2014-15 limited to home white, road reds and blacks, a "Pride" combo that meshes the back-in-black with the white-on-white, Christmas editions and Noche Latina versions. All the jerseys carry a tag on the back that denotes the Heat's three NBA championships. Last season the Heat and Brooklyn Nets gifted the NBA with nickname jerseys, a novelty act that grew tiresome a few minutes into their first appearance. Now the Heat are Big Three-less and the Nets are spending less. Brooklyn General Manager Billy King recently said, "This year it's more of, 'Let's just play basketball.' " Amen. Oh, and no sleeved jerseys for the Heat this season, although sleeves still will make the occasional appearance around the league.