Erik Spoelstra Official Web Site

Erik Spoelstra enters his fourth season as head coach of the HEAT and his 17th as a member of the organization. Since being elevated to his current position on April 28, 2008, Spoelstra has led Miami to a 148-98 regular season record and an 18-15 mark in the postseason. He currently ranks second in franchise history in victories and winning percentage in both regular season and postseason play. In each of his three seasons the HEAT has increased its victory total and earned a postseason berth, including an Eastern Conference championship in 2010-11 and Miami’s second NBA Finals appearance.

Spoelstra led Miami to a 58-24 regular season record, a Southeast Division title and an Eastern Conference championship in 2010-11. The 58 wins mark the third best total in franchise history and Miami’s 28 road wins tied for the most in the NBA in 2010-11 and rank second in HEAT history. Spoelstra earned NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honors in December after guiding the HEAT to a 15-1 record, including a perfect 10-0 mark on the road. The 15 total wins and 10 road victories in December each set a franchise record for any month and the HEAT established an NBA record for most consecutive road wins in a calendar month. Defense was once again the stalwart of the HEAT’s success as Miami led the NBA in point differential, finished second in defensive field goal percentage and sixth in scoring defense.

After an impressive rookie campaign, Spoelstra guided Miami to a 47-35 record in 2009-10. Under his leadership the HEAT closed the season by winning 18 of its final 22 games, including a 12-3 record in March which earned him NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honors. The 2009-10 season was one of its best defensive seasons for Miami as the HEAT allowed the fewest field goals in the NBA and finished second in both points allowed and defensive field goal percentage.

During his rookie season, Spoelstra led Miami to its greatest single-season improvement. He inherited a 15-win team and directed it to a 28-win improvement, marking the greatest improvement by a rookie head coach in NBA history, bettering the previous record of a 20-win improvement by Chicago’s Ed Badger during the 1976-77 season. It also marked the seventh-best single-season improvement in NBA history by any coach. As a result of a 43-win season, the most by a head coach in his first year guiding the HEAT, Spoelstra led Miami to the 2009 NBA Playoffs. The 2009 postseason appearance made Miami just the second team in NBA history to win 15-or-fewer games one year and make the postseason the next, joining the 1968-69 San Diego Rockets.

Before taking over the reigns as the sixth head coach in HEAT history, Spoelstra had served Miami in a number of roles in his first 13 years. He was originally hired as video coordinator and over the years was promoted to assistant coach/video coordinator, assistant coach/advance scout and assistant coach/director of scouting before ascending to head coach.  He made a name for himself around the league with his game preparation and superb attention to detail. In his seven seasons as the HEAT’s assistant coach/director of scouting, he had the primary role of developing game plans for upcoming opponents. To that end, he coordinated the video staff and advance scouts while overseeing the development of scouting reports and videos.  

Spoelstra has earned the respect of players throughout the league with a strong reputation as a teacher over the years by heading the HEAT’s Individual Player Development Program. As an assistant coach, where he also served for three seasons (2005-07) as the head coach of the HEAT’s summer league team, and as the HEAT’s head man now, he has worked tirelessly with many of Miami’s young players in areas of fundamentals, skill development and shooting. This consistent emphasis of fundamentals contributed to the HEAT setting a franchise-record in 2008-09 for fewest turnovers in a season, committing 96 fewer turnovers than the previous franchise record, and then responding the following season with the second fewest turnovers in a season.

Additionally, Spoelstra helped design and integrate a proprietary statistical database and scouting software for the HEAT. Under Spoelstra, the HEAT continues to embrace the use of technology and continues to use the state-of-the-art statistical software to evaluate team productivity, individual player productivity and trends for both the HEAT and the team’s opponents. That use of technology as a teaching tool also included putting the team’s video playbook on iPads for his players.

In 1992, he graduated from the University of Portland with a degree in communications. While attending Portland, Spoelstra was the starting point guard for four years and was named the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year in 1989. Upon graduating he spent two years as a player/coach for Tus Herten, a team in the professional sports league of Germany.

A team member of the NBA FIT initiative, Spoelstra takes pride in encouraging and educating children on the physical, mental and emotional benefits of healthy living, as well as motivating and inspiring their families to live healthier lives through a variety of events and activities. Additionally, he created “Spo’s Shooters”, in 2008 in conjuction with the Miami HEAT Community Education Ticket Program. This program reaches out to South Florida’s less fortunate student-athletes and gives them the opportunity to enjoy HEAT games and meet their favorite HEAT players and role models.

He has returned to his native Philippines in each of the last three offseasons to host clinics and promote education, health and wellness to thousands of at-risk youth through grassroots programs and events. The 9-day program in Manila this past summer was the largest NBA FIT event ever hosted in Southeast Asia under the NBA Cares umbrella.

Raised in Portland, OR, Spoelstra, who was inducted into the Jesuit High School Athletic Hall of Fame in September 2009, is the first Asian/Filipino-American head coach in any of the major North American sports leagues. 

Spoelstra is the son of Jon Spoelstra, a long-time NBA executive who has guided the Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Buffalo Braves and New Jersey Nets. His grandfather, Watson, was a Detroit Tigers beat writer for many years.