27 Facts About Erik Spoelstra

Erik Spoelstra is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in the league and one of the greatest of all time.

Erik Spoelstra played college basketball with the Portland Pilots before playing professionally and coaching in Germany.

Erik 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.

Erik Spoelstra was born in Evanston which is directly north of Chicago, to Jon Erik Spoelstra and Elisa Celino.

Erik Spoelstra went to Raleigh Hills Elementary and Whitford Jr.

Erik Spoelstra wore number 30 during high school and college in honor of then-Trail Blazer Terry Porter, one of his favorite NBA players.

Erik Spoelstra received basketball scholarship offers, and eventually accepted one from the University of Portland in Portland.

Erik Spoelstra was the Pilots' starting point guard for four years, averaging 9.2 points, 4.4 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game.

Erik Spoelstra is a member of the school's 1,000-point club, and is among the Pilots' career leaders in several statistical categories.

Erik Spoelstra majored in communications and graduated from the University of Portland in 1992.

Erik Spoelstra had originally planned to play basketball in the Philippines as he had watched their games on VHS tape for years.

Erik Spoelstra began having back problems after the end of his second year with the team, and contemplated having surgery.

In 1995, Erik Spoelstra was offered another two-year contract with the club, but the NBA's Miami Heat offered him a position.

Erik 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.

Erik Spoelstra won his first NBA championship as an assistant coach when the Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals.

Erik Spoelstra's team returned to the postseason a year later, but lost again in the first round to the Boston Celtics in five games.

Erik Spoelstra led the Heat to an appearance in the 2011 NBA Finals, but lost to the Dallas Mavericks in six games.

The next season, Erik Spoelstra again guided the team to the postseason as the two seed.

Erik Spoelstra's Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games to win the NBA championship.

Erik Spoelstra became the first Asian American head coach to win an NBA championship, and the second Heat head coach to win the title.

Erik Spoelstra became the only Miami Heat head coach to take the team to the NBA Finals multiple times.

Erik Spoelstra later coached the Heat to a 27-game winning streak.

Details were not released, but Erik Spoelstra was expected to receive a pay raise and a bigger role in the front office.

Erik Spoelstra led the Heat to the 2014 NBA Finals, becoming the third coach to lead his team to four straight Finals.

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

On March 13,2023, Erik Spoelstra won his 697th game, which ranks him 20th on the all-time wins list among NBA head coaches.

Erik Spoelstra surpassed Red Holzman and is behind John MacLeod on the list.