Erik Spoelstra

After college, Spoelstra initially boxed shoes at a Nike warehouse.[17] He had orginally planned to play basketball in the Philippines; he had watched their games on VHS tape for years. However, the paperwork to play in the country got delayed.[18] He instead went to Germany, spending two years (1993–1995) in Basketball Bundesliga's second division as a player–assistant coach for TuS Herten, a professional club based in Westphalia.[17][19][20] It was in this setting where Spoelstra got his first coaching job, as coach of the club's local youth team.[13] He began having back problems after the end of his second year with the team, and contemplated having surgery.[12] 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.[8]

Chris Wallace, then the director of player personnel for the Heat, convinced then general manager Dave Wohl to offer Spoelstra a position with the team.[21] 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.[8] 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."[12]

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.[7] Many of Spoelstra's colleagues attribute his ascent in the Heat coaching ranks to his strong work ethic.[13][21] 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.[6] Spoelstra won his first NBA championship as an assistant coach when the Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals.

Spoelstra presents President Barack Obama a team trophy in January 2014.[22]

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.[23] 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."[7] Spoelstra became the first Asian American head coach in the NBA, and the first Asian American head coach in the history of the four major North American sports leagues.[6] 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.[24] 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.[24]

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.[25] Chris Bosh intimated that the team was being worked too hard and that the players would rather "chill".[26] LeBron James famously bumped into Spoelstra on his way to the bench during a timeout in a game.[27] 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" (James, Wade and Bosh), Heat executive Pat Riley was asked if he would consider returning to coach the team.[28] Riley, however, turned down the idea and supported Spoelstra as the head coach going forward.[28] Spoelstra received a $6 million contract extension in December 2011 which lasted through the 2013–14 NBA season.[29]

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.[30] 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,[6] 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 Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and 2010. 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.[31][32]

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.[33] 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 coached the Heat to the 2020 NBA Finals before falling 4–2 to the Los Angeles Lakers.

On April 28, 2021, Spoelstra earned his 600th win as the Heat's head coach, and also became the sixth head coach in NBA history to win 600 games with one team.[34]

On February 6, 2022, Spoelstra was named as the Eastern Conference head coach for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game.[35]

On March 13, 2023, Spoelstra won his 697th game, which ranks him 20th on the all-time wins list among NBA head coaches. He surpassed Red Holzman and currently sits behind John MacLeod on the list.[36]

During the 2022–23 season, Spoelstra coached the Heat to the 2023 NBA Finals, his sixth appearance as head coach,[37] but lost the series to the Denver Nuggets in five games.[38]