Erik Spoelstra
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 1, 1970 Evanston, Illinois |
| Nationality | American |
| Career information | |
| High school | Jesuit (Beaverton, Oregon) |
| College | Portland (1988–1992) |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| 1997–2008 | Miami Heat (assistant) |
| 2008–present | Miami Heat |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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As head coach: As assistant coach: |
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Erik Spoelstra (/ˈspoʊlstrə/ SPOHL-strə; born November 1, 1970) is an American professional basketball coach and the current head coach of the National Basketball Association's Miami Heat. A Filipino-American through his mother's side, he is the first Asian American head coach in the history of the four major American sports leagues[1][2][3] and the first Asian American head coach to win an NBA championship.[4]
From 2001 to 2008, he served as assistant coach and director of scouting for the team.[5] He guided the Heat to four playoff appearances, including trips to the 2011 and 2012 NBA Finals, in his first four seasons.
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Early life [edit]
Spoelstra[6] grew up in Portland, Oregon and attended Jesuit High School in nearby Beaverton. Before his senior season, Spoelstra played in Sonny Vaccaro's Nike All-Star camp in Princeton, New Jersey, joining future NBA players Alonzo Mourning, Shawn Kemp, and Bobby Hurley in the camp.
He attended the University of Portland from 1988 to 1992[7] and was named the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year in 1989. Spoelstra was the Pilots' starting point guard for four years, averaging 9.2 points, 4.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game. A member of Portland's 1,000-point club, Spoelstra was on the court as Hank Gathers collapsed and died during the 1990 WCC Tournament.
After graduation from college, he served as a player/coach for TuS Herten (later the Herten Ruhr Devils / Hertener Löwen), a midlevel professional German team based in Westphalia. It was in this setting where Spoelstra got his first coaching job, as coach of the club's local youth team.
Miami Heat [edit]
Spoelstra joined the Heat staff in 1995 as the team's video coordinator after his father called Chris Wallace, then the director of player personnel for the Heat. After two years, he was named assistant coach/video coordinator, then promoted to assistant coach/advance scout in 1999. He became the assistant coach/director of scouting in 2001. He was cited by Sports Illustrated (May 30, 2005) for honing star guard Dwyane Wade's "shooting balance and smoothing out his release after the Flash's return from the Athens Olympics."[8]
Spoelstra was an assistant coach with the Miami Heat when they won the 2006 NBA Finals by defeating the Dallas Mavericks, overcoming a 0–2 deficit.
In April 2008, Spoelstra was named successor to Pat Riley as head coach of the Miami Heat. 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."[9] Riley also noted: "A lot of players want the discipline; they will play [hard] for Spoelstra, because they respect him."[10]
Spoelstra coached the Heat to the NBA Finals in 2011 where they lost 4–2 against the Dallas Mavericks.
On December 16, 2011, he received a contract extension.[11]
On June 21, 2012, Spoelstra's Heat won the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder 4-1.
On February 3, 2013, Spoelstra was named head coach of the 2013 Eastern Conference All-Star Team.
In 2013, he coached the Miami Heat to a 27 game winning streak (second 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.
Personal life [edit]
He is the son of Dutch-Irish-American Jon Spoelstra, who was an NBA executive for the Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Buffalo Braves and New Jersey Nets,[5] and the grandson of the late Watson Spoelstra, a sportswriter in the Detroit area.[12] His mother, Elisa Celino, is from San Pablo City, Laguna in the Philippines.[13][14]
To relax, Spoelstra does yoga and goes jogging and spinning. He has traveled to the Philippines several times, often under the NBA FIT program, which promotes healthy lifestyles.
Head coaching record [edit]
| Legend | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win-loss % | |
| Post season | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIA | 2008–09 | 82 | 43 | 39 | .524 | 3rd in Southeast | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | Lost in First Round |
| MIA | 2009–10 | 82 | 47 | 35 | .573 | 3rd in Southeast | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | Lost in First Round |
| MIA | 2010–11 | 82 | 58 | 24 | .707 | 1st in Southeast | 21 | 14 | 7 | .667 | Lost in NBA Finals |
| MIA | 2011–12 | 66 | 46 | 20 | .697 | 1st in Southeast | 23 | 16 | 7 | .696 | Won NBA Championship |
| MIA | 2012–13 | 82 | 66 | 16 | .805 | 1st in Southeast | 9 | 8 | 1 | .889 | TBD |
| Career | 394 | 260 | 134 | .660 | 65 | 42 | 23 | .646 |
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/7568695/erik-spoelstra-lebron-james-impressed-jeremy-lin-ascent
- ^ Joseph Pimentel (December 21, 2008). "Raymond Townsend – First Pinoy NBA Player". Asian Journal. Retrieved April 19, 2009. "WHEN legendary National Basketball Association (NBA) coach Pat Riley announced Fil-Am Eric Spoelstra to coach the Miami Heat, Spoelstra became the first person with Filipino and Asian heritage to coach in the NBA."
- ^ "Erik Spoelstra becomes First Filipino-American NBA Coach". Interbasket. April 2008. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
- ^ http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/262812/pinoyabroad/pinoyachievers/fil-am-coach-erik-spoelstra-steers-heat-to-historic-nba-win
- ^ a b Jonathan Abrams (2011-05-28). "Riley Steps Down, Spoelstra Named Head Coach". NBA.com. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
- ^ "Meet new Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra". Sun-sentinel.com. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
- ^ Arnold, Geoffrey C (April 29, 2008). "Spoelstra in, Riley out". The Oregonian. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
- ^ Tulfo, Ramon (2008-05-03). "Inquirer.net, Spoelstra first Filipino NBA head coach". Sports.inquirer.net. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
- ^ "Ex-Pilot, Crusader Erik Spoelstra named Miami Heat coach". Portland Tribune. October 30, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
- ^ miamiherald.com, Riley to change course with coach[dead link]
- ^ Heat president Pat Riley: Coach Erik Spoelstra receives contract extension. Global Saskatoon (2011-12-16). Retrieved on 2012-06-04.
- ^ "Spoelstra Raised to Be in N.B.A". The New York Times. 2011-05-29.
- ^ "Spoelstra first Filipino NBA head coach". Inquirer. 2008-05-03. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ Nick Vicera (2007-01-11). "Erik Spoelstra: He puts the Heat on". Filipinas Magazine & GMA News.TV. Retrieved April 30, 2008.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Erik Spoelstra |
- ErikSpoelstra.com
- Kevin Arnovitz, "The Mystery Guest Arrives," ESPN.com, June 1, 2011.
- Rafe Bartholomew, "Spoelstra in the Philippines," Grantland.com, September 28, 2011.
- Kevin Arnovitz, "The book on Erik Spoelstra," ESPN.com, May 30, 2012.
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- 1970 births
- Living people
- American basketball coaches
- American expatriate basketball people in Germany
- American people of Dutch descent
- American people of Filipino descent
- American people of Irish descent
- American sportspeople of Asian descent
- Basketball players from Illinois
- Basketball players from Oregon
- Jesuit High School (Beaverton, Oregon) alumni
- Miami Heat assistant coaches
- Miami Heat head coaches
- Sportspeople from Evanston, Illinois
- Point guards
- Portland Pilots men's basketball players
- Sportspeople from Portland, Oregon
