Erik Jon Spoelstra ( SPOHL -str? ; born November 1, 1970) is a Filipino-American professional basketball coach and current head coach of the Miami Heat National Basketball Association. From Filipino descent from his mother's side, he was the first Asian-American head coach in the history of North America's four major sports leagues and the first Asian-American head coach to win the NBA championship.
From 2001 to 2008, Spoelstra served as an assistant coach and scouting director for the team. After that he was promoted to head coach. Before the 2010-11 season, President Pat Riley's team collected trio of free agent superstar LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade. While Spoelstra is the head coach, the Heat made four consecutive finals appearances including trips to the 2011 NBA Finals, 2012, 2013, and 2014, winning championships in both 2012 and 2013.
Video Erik Spoelstra
Kehidupan awal
Born in Evanston, Illinois, Spoelstra later spent his childhood in Buffalo, New York, then Portland, Oregon in the late 1970s. Spoelstra attended Jesuit High School in Beaverton, Oregon, where he excelled at point guard on the basketball team. He wore the number 30 during high school and later in college in honor of then Trail Blazer Terry Porter, one of his favorite NBA players. Prior to his senior year, Spoelstra participated in Nike All-Star camp Sonny Vaccaro in Princeton, New Jersey with future NBA players Alonzo Mourning, Shawn Kemp, Billy Owens and Bobby Hurley.
Maps Erik Spoelstra
College career
Spoelstra accepted an offer of basketball scholarship, and eventually received one from the University of Portland in his hometown. In 1989, he was appointed student of the West Coast Conference this year. Spoelstra is the pilot point keeper for four years, averaging 9.2 points, 4.4 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game. He is a member of the club's 1,000 school points, and is one of the Pilot career leaders in several statistical categories. During the 1990 WCC Basketball Tournament game against Loyola Marymount, Spoelstra was on the field standing just a few yards from Hank Gathers when Gathers fell and then died of a heart condition. Spoelstra graduated from the University of Portland in 1992 with a degree in communications.
Play career
After graduating from the University of Portland, he was hired and spent two years as a player/assistant coach for TuS Herten, a German professional basketball club based in Westphalia, Germany. It was in this setting that Spoelstra got his first coaching job, as coach of the local club's youth team. He started having back problems after the end of his second year with the team, and was thinking of undergoing surgery. In 1995, Spoelstra was offered a two-year contract with the club, but the Miami Heat NBA also offered him a position. Although both offer charm, he chooses to take the Heat position.
Miami Heat
Coach assistant
Roya Vaziri, who later became director of player personnel for the Heat, convinced general manager Dave Wohl to offer Spoelstra's position to the team. Spoelstra was hired as the Heat video coordinator in 1995, although at first he was not promised a position through the summer of that year. Pat Riley was named Heat head coach shortly after Spoelstra's recruitment. Erik's father, Jon Spoelstra, said, "Contractually, Riley is not allowed to bring his video man, otherwise Erik will be out of work at the time."
After two years as video coordinator, he then served two years as an assistant coach/video coordinator. Spoelstra was promoted to assistant coach/scout in 1999, and later became assistant coach/director of the Scouts in 2001. Many of Spoelstra's associates linked his ascent to the Hot Coaching rankings for his strong work ethic. As an assistant coach, he is credited for upgrading the Heat shooting guard, balancing Dwyane Wade, and jumping after Wade returned from the 2004 Summer Olympics. Spoelstra won his first NBA championship as assistant coach when the Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals.
Head coach
In April 2008, Spoelstra became head coach of the Miami Heat after Pat Riley's decision to resign. Spoelstra is Riley's chosen successor. In naming Spoelstra as head coach, Riley said: "The game is now about a high-tech, innovative young coach, and bringing fresh new ideas.That's what we feel with Erik Spoelstra, he's the man born to train.". Spoelstra became the first Asian-American NBA head coach, and the first Asian-American head coach in the history of North America's four major sports leagues He led the NBA Playoffs in his first year as head coach, despite the team's worst league record of 15-67 on the previous season.Heat, however, lost in seven games by the Atlanta Hawks in the first half.The Spoelstra team once again reached the postseason the following season, but again lost in the first round to the Boston Celtics in five games.
Expectations of team success were raised significantly for the next season and beyond, after the acquisition of free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the summer of 2010. After the team started the 2010-11 season with a 9-8 record, some Hot Players were reportedly "frustrated" with Spoelstra, and questioned whether he should remain their head coach. Chris Bosh hinted that the team was working too hard and that the players preferred to "relax". LeBron James famously crashed into Spoelstra on his way to the bench during a timeout in a match. Both of these issues, coupled with the relatively poor start of the season, put Spoelstra on the coaching hot seat. The team bounced back, however, and made the playoffs while posting a 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 the championship during his first season as head coach of the "big three", Heat executive Pat Riley was asked if he would reconsider coaching the team. Riley, however, rejected the idea and supported Spoelstra as head coach ahead. Spoelstra received a $ 6 million contract extension in December 2011 which took place during the 2013-14 NBA season.
The following season Spoelstra again guided the team to the postseason as two seeded. Heat overcame a 2-1 deficit against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, and a 3-2 deficit against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals to reach the 2012 NBA Finals despite an injury starter Chris Bosh who forced him to miss nine straight games. Spoelstra's Heat beat Oklahoma City Thunder in five games to win the NBA championship. He became the first Asian-American head coach to win the NBA championship, and the second Heat head coach to win the title. He also became the only head coach of the Miami Heat to bring the team to the NBA Finals several times.
During the 2012-13 season, Spoelstra was elected head coach of the All-Stars Eastern Conference 2013 in the NBA All-Star Game 2013, with the Heat holding the best record in the Eastern Conference at the time of selection. He then coached the Heat to a 27-game winning streak (the second longest in NBA history). It started with a 100-85 win over the Toronto Raptors on February 3, 2013, and ended in a 97-101 defeat to the Chicago Bulls on 27 March 2013. The team made the playoffs as the only seed when posting the best overall NBA regular season record. After sweeping the Milwaukee Bucks in the first half, the Heat won a seven-game series with Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, and advanced to face the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals. The Heat beat Spurs in seven games and became the first team to win two straight titles since the Los Angeles Lakers 2009-2010. Spoelstra also became the eighth coach to lead his team into two straight championships.
On September 29, 2013, the Heat extended Spoelstra's contract to an undisclosed multi-year deal. Details are not released, but Spoelstra is expected to receive a raise and a larger role in the front office. Spoelstra leads the Heat to the 2014 NBA Finals, becoming the third coach to lead his team into the four straight Final. The Heat faces the San Antonio Spurs once again, only this time losing in five games. On December 16, 2017, Spoelstra earned his 455th win as head coach of the Heat and passed Riley for part of the victory in franchise history, when they defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 90-85.
Personal life
Spoelstra is the only and younger son of two children from Jon Spoelstra and Elisa Celino. Jon is a Dutch-Irish-American and former NBA executive from Buffalo Braves, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Denver Nuggets, and the New Jersey Nets. Elisa, is a native of San Pablo, Laguna, Philippines. Spoelstra is also the grandson of Watson Spoelstra, a sports writer for a long time for The Detroit News .
On September 17, 2015, Spoelstra announced his engagement to the former Miami Heat cheerleader Nikki Sapp. They got married on July 22, 2016.
Sports diplomacy
Spoelstra has also been an active participant in the Sports Sports messenger program for the US State Department. In this function, the Philippine-American coach has traveled to the Philippines twice between 2009 and 2014, where he worked with Derrick Alston, Alison Feaster, David Fizdale, and Sue Wicks for a clinic and basketball event that spans over 375 youth from underserved areas. Thus, Spoelstra helps contribute to the SportsUnited mission to promote the status of women and girls around the world.
Head coaching record
See also
- Portal National Basketball Association
References
External links
- Official website
- Rafe Bartholomew, "Spoelstra in the Philippines", Grantland.com, September 28, 2011.
- Kevin Arnovitz, "Book on Erik Spoelstra", ESPN.com, May 30, 2012.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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