Erik Spoelstra

Erik Jon Celino Spoelstra (/ˈspoʊlstrə/ SPOHL-strə; born November 1, 1970)[1][2] is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Of Filipino descent from his mother's side, Spoelstra is the first Asian-American head coach in the history of the four major North American sports leagues[3][4] and the first Asian-American head coach to win an NBA championship.[4]

Erik Spoelstra
Spoelstra coaching the Heat in 2016
Miami Heat
PositionHead coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1970-11-01) November 1, 1970
Evanston, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Career information
High schoolJesuit (Beaverton, Oregon)
CollegePortland (1988–1992)
Playing career1993–1995
PositionPoint guard
Coaching career1993–present
Career history
As player:
1993–1995TuS Herten
As coach:
1993–1995TuS Herten (assistant)
1997–2008Miami Heat (assistant)
2008–presentMiami Heat
Career highlights and awards
As player:
  • WCC Freshman of the Year (1989)

As head coach:

As assistant coach:

Spoelstra served as assistant coach and director of scouting for the Heat from 2001 to 2008, during which time the team won the 2006 NBA Finals.[5] He was promoted to head coach in the 2008-09 season. Following the addition of free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh in 2010, the Heat made four consecutive NBA Finals appearances (2011–2014) under Spoelstra, winning the championship in 2012 and 2013. Spoelstra made his fifth appearance in the NBA Finals as head coach in 2020.

Early life and education

Spoelstra was born in Evanston, Illinois, to Jon Spoelstra and Elisa Celino.[6][7] Jon is Dutch-Irish-American and a former NBA executive of the Buffalo Braves, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, and New Jersey Nets.[5][8] Elisa is a native of San Pablo, Laguna, Philippines.[9] Spoelstra is also the grandson of Watson Spoelstra, a long-time sportswriter for The Detroit News.[10]

He spent his childhood in Buffalo, New York, before moving to Portland, Oregon by the late 1970s.[11][12] He attended Raleigh Hills Elementary and Whitford Jr. High School in Portland, before attending Jesuit High School in Beaverton, Oregon, where he excelled at point guard on the basketball team.[11] He wore number 30 during high school and college in honor of then-Trail Blazer Terry Porter, one of his favorite NBA players.[6] Before his senior year, Spoelstra participated in Sonny Vaccaro's Nike All-Star camp in Princeton, New Jersey, alongside future NBA players Alonzo Mourning, Shawn Kemp, Billy Owens, and Bobby Hurley.[11]

College career

Spoelstra received basketball scholarship offers, and eventually accepted one from the University of Portland in his hometown.[11] In 1989, he was named West Coast Conference freshman of the year.[13] Spoelstra was the Pilots' starting point guard for four years, averaging 9.2 points, 4.4 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game.[13] He is a member of the school's 1,000-point club, and is among the Pilots' career leaders in several statistical categories.[13] During a 1990 WCC Basketball Tournament game against Loyola Marymount, Spoelstra was on the court standing just a couple of yards away from Hank Gathers when Gathers collapsed and later died of a heart condition.[11] Spoelstra graduated from the University of Portland in 1992 with a degree in communications.[14]

Playing career

After graduating from the University of Portland, he was hired and spent two years (1993–1995) in Basketball Bundesliga's second division as a player–assistant coach for TuS Herten, a German professional basketball club based in Westphalia, Germany.[15][16][17] It was in this setting where Spoelstra got his first coaching job, as coach of the club's local youth team.[11] He began having back problems after the end of his second year with the team, and contemplated having surgery.[10] In 1995, Spoelstra was offered another two-year contract with the club, but the NBA's Miami Heat also offered him a position. Although both offers held appeal, he chose to take the Heat position.[6]

Miami Heat

Assistant coach

Roya Vaziri, then the director of player personnel for the Heat, convinced then general manager Dave Wohl to offer Spoelstra a position with the team.[18] Spoelstra was hired as the Heat's video coordinator in 1995, although at first he was not promised the position past the summer of that year.[6] Pat Riley was named the Heat's head coach not long after Spoelstra's hiring. Erik's father, Jon Spoelstra, said, "Contractually, Riley wasn’t allowed to bring in his video guy, otherwise, Erik would have been out of a job right then."[10]

After two years as video coordinator, he then served two years as an assistant coach/video coordinator. Spoelstra was promoted to assistant coach/advance scout in 1999, and later became the Heat's assistant coach/director of scouting in 2001.[5] Many of Spoelstra's colleagues attribute his ascent in the Heat coaching ranks to his strong work ethic.[11][18] As an assistant coach, he was credited for improving Heat star shooting guard Dwyane Wade's balance and jump shot after Wade's return from the 2004 Summer Olympics.[4] Spoelstra won his first NBA championship as an assistant coach when the Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals.

Head coach
Spoelstra presents President Barack Obama a team trophy in January 2014.[19]

In April 2008, Spoelstra became the head coach of the Miami Heat after Pat Riley's decision to step down. Spoelstra was Riley's hand-picked successor.[20] In naming Spoelstra as head coach, Riley said: "This game is now about younger coaches who are technologically skilled, innovative, and bring fresh new ideas. That's what we feel we are getting with Erik Spoelstra. He's a man that was born to coach."[5] Spoelstra became the first ever Asian-American NBA head coach, and the first Asian-American head coach in the history of the four major North American sports leagues.[4] He led the Heat to the NBA Playoffs in his first year as head coach, despite the team's league worst record of 15-67 the previous season.[21] The Heat, however, were defeated in seven games by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round. Spoelstra's team once again reached the postseason the following season, but again lost in the first round to the Boston Celtics in five games.[21]

Expectations of the team's success were raised significantly for the next season and beyond, after the free agent acquisitions of LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the summer of 2010. After the team started off the 2010–11 season with a 9–8 record, some Heat players reportedly were "frustrated" with Spoelstra, and questioned if he should remain their head coach.[22] Chris Bosh intimated that the team was being worked too hard and that the players would rather "chill".[23] LeBron James famously bumped into Spoelstra on his way to the bench during a timeout in a game.[24] These two issues, coupled with the relatively poor start to the season, put Spoelstra on the coaching hot seat. The team bounced-back, however, and made the playoffs while posting the second best record in the Eastern Conference. Spoelstra led the Heat to an appearance in the 2011 NBA Finals, but lost to the Dallas Mavericks in six games. After Spoelstra failed to win a championship during his first season as head coach of the "big three", Heat executive Pat Riley was asked if he would consider returning to coach the team.[25] Riley, however, turned down the idea and supported Spoelstra as the head coach going forward.[25] Spoelstra received a $6 million contract extension in December 2011 which lasted through the 2013–14 NBA season.[26]

Spoelstra (in front) during the 2012 playoffs

The following season Spoelstra again guided the team to the postseason as the two seed. The Heat overcame a 2–1 game deficit against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, and a 3–2 game deficit against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals to reach the 2012 NBA Finals despite an injury to starter Chris Bosh that forced him to miss nine straight games.[27] Spoelstra's Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games to win the NBA championship. He became the first Asian-American head coach to win an NBA championship,[4] and the second Heat head coach to win the title. He also became the only Miami Heat head coach to take the team to the NBA Finals multiple times.

During the 2012–13 season, Spoelstra was selected as head coach of the 2013 Eastern Conference All-Stars in the 2013 NBA All-Star Game, with the Heat holding the best record in the Eastern Conference at the time of selection. He later coached the Heat to a 27-game winning streak (third longest in NBA history). It started with a 100–85 win over the Toronto Raptors on February 3, 2013, and ended with a 97–101 loss to the Chicago Bulls on March 27, 2013. The team made the playoffs as the one seed while posting the best overall NBA regular season record. After sweeping the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, the Heat won a seven-game series with the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, and advanced to face the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals. The Heat defeated the Spurs in seven games and became the first team to win two straight titles since the 2009–2010 Los Angeles Lakers. Spoelstra also became the eighth coach to lead his team to two straight championships.

On September 29, 2013, the Heat extended Spoelstra's contract to an undisclosed multi-year deal. Details were not released, but Spoelstra was expected to receive a pay raise and a bigger role in the front office. Spoelstra led the Heat to the 2014 NBA Finals, becoming the third coach to lead his team to four straight Finals. The Heat faced the San Antonio Spurs once again, only this time losing the series in five games.[28][29]

On December 16, 2017, Spoelstra got his 455th win as the head coach of the Heat and passed Riley for most wins in franchise history, when they defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 90–85.[30] Topping off the 2016–17 season, Spoelstra was named the NBCA Co-Coach of the Year after leading the Heat to a 30 win record in the final 41 games of the season. During the 2019–20 season, Spoelstra had again coached the Heat back to the 2020 NBA Finals before falling 4–2 to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Personal life

On September 17, 2015, Spoelstra announced his engagement to former Miami Heat cheerleader, Nikki Sapp.[31] They married on July 22, 2016 and have two sons together.

Head coaching record
Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Miami 2008–09 824339.5243rd in Southeast734.429 Lost in First Round
Miami 2009–10 824735.5733rd in Southeast514.200 Lost in First Round
Miami 2010–11 825824.7071st in Southeast21147.667 Lost in NBA Finals
Miami 2011–12 664620.6971st in Southeast23167.696 Won NBA Championship
Miami 2012–13 826616.8051st in Southeast23167.696 Won NBA Championship
Miami 2013–14 825428.6591st in Southeast20137.650 Lost in NBA Finals
Miami 2014–15 823745.4513rd in Southeast———— Missed playoffs
Miami 2015–16 824834.5851st in Southeast1477.500 Lost in Conference Semifinals
Miami 2016–17 824141.5003rd in Southeast———— Missed playoffs
Miami 2017–18 824438.5371st in Southeast514.200 Lost in First Round
Miami 2018–19 823943.4763rd in Southeast———— Missed playoffs
Miami 2019–20 734429.6031st in Southeast21147.667 Lost in NBA Finals
Career 959567392.5911398554.612

See also
  •  Sports portal

References
  1. Terrado, Reuben (August 2, 2012). "Pamahiin in Spo's family: Mom skipped Finals, for fear of jinxing Heat bid". SPIN.ph.
  2. Winderman, Ira (April 29, 2008). "Spoelstra has been around the game since childhood". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  3. Arnovitz, Kevin (February 13, 2012). "Erik Spoelstra Impressed By Jeremy Lin". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  4. Medina, Andrei (June 22, 2012). "Fil-Am Coach Erik Spoelstra Steers Heat to Historic NBA Win". GMA News. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  5. "Riley Steps Down, Spoelstra Named Head Coach". NBA.com. April 28, 2008. Archived from the original on July 8, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  6. Martin, Jeffrey (May 15, 2013). "Long Before Miami, Spoelstra's Work Ethic Known". USA Today. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  7. Henson, Joaquin (August 27, 2011). "Spoelstra, Sis Back Next Year?". Philstar.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  8. Robertson, Linda (June 16, 2013). "Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra Learned Valuable Lessons From His Father". The Miami Herald. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  9. "Spoelstra First Filipino NBA Head Coach". Inquirer.net. May 3, 2008. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
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  11. Arnovitz, Kevin (June 1, 2011). "The Mystery Guest Has Arrived". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  12. Eggers, Kerry (May 8, 2008). "Erik Spoelstra can take the heat". Portland Tribune. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  13. "Former UP Standout Erik Spoelstra Leads Miami Heat to NBA Title". Portland Pilots. June 22, 2012. Archived from the original on May 21, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  14. Vicera, Nick (January 11, 2007). "Erik Spoelstra: He Puts the Heat On". Filipinas. Archived from the original on May 21, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  15. "NBA Finals 2013: Is Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra Latino? The Answer Is Revealed Here". Latinospost.com. June 16, 2013. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  16. Jenkins, Lee (September 24, 2014). "From 'The Dungeon' to the top: Erik Spoelstra's rise with the Heat". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  17. Walle, Dean (September 20, 2010). "Die Erwartungen sind immens". Spiegel (in German). Retrieved October 30, 2018.
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  21. Zimmerman, Kevin (April 18, 2013). "Heat Playoff History: Pat Riley Built the Ship, but Erik Spoelstra is Captaining the Big Three". SB Nation. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  22. Isola, Frank (November 29, 2010). "LeBron James Leading Mutiny Against Erik Spoelstra as 'Big Three' Play Small With Miami Heat". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  23. "Quote of the Night: Chris Bosh wants to chill". Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  24. "LeBron James, Spoelstra downplay bump in the night". Retrieved August 27, 2015.
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  26. Windhorst, Brian (December 17, 2011). "Erik Spoelstra Gets New Contract". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on May 21, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
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  29. Michael Wallace (September 29, 2013). "What Spoelstra extension means for LeBron". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  30. "Richardson has 28 points to lead Heat past Clippers". Sportsnet.ca. December 16, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  31. "Heat coach slyly announces engagement to former dancer". September 17, 2015.
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