The Miami Heat have not only been an example of hard work and perseverance over the past decade, but also of stability. It will surely continue with Spo locked in.
The Miami Heat have built the ultimate identity and mantra since their inception into the NBA. Now known as Heat Culture, this identity has helped to propel the franchise to not only amazing places, but to a revered place amongst competing players, coaches, and franchises alike. While this elevation can be pinned on many things, one of the things that most separate the Miami Heat from most others are their abilities to remain focused, stable, and consistent.
While a ton of this can be credited to Miami Heat owner Micky Arison and Team President Pat Riley, some of the credit definitely has to be given to Miami Heat head man over the past 11 seasons, Erik Spoelstra. Known more affectionately to players, the organization, pundits, analyst, and Miami Heat Faithful as Spo, it looks like he will continue to be at the helm of the franchise he’s always been with. Per a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Erik Spoelstra will be the Miami Heat’s head coach for at least the next five seasons, including this one that is upcoming.
Story filed: Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has agreed to a long-term contract extension, league sources tell ESPN. Spoelstra, who had one year left on deal, quietly negotiated extension that's been finalized on the eve of his 12th season as head coach.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 28, 2019
As Woj noted in a follow-up tweet to the above, Spo is “NBA’s second longest-tenured active coach with one team — behind only Gregg Popovich.” Spending the lot of his career with the Miami Heat, we now should all know the story of how he has worked his way up into this point in his career where he is now, starting from a lowly video coordinator position.
He is the franchise’s all-time winningest head coach, having currently won 69 more games than the second-placed Pat Riley, with a career record of 523-363 and a win percentage of 59 percent. He is a two time NBA champion as a head coach, having taken his team to the playoffs eight of a possible eleven seasons, with a 60 percent winning percentage and a record of 71-47 when it matters the most.
So, for those out there that think that Spo isn’t elite(looking at you Dan Dakich) and is JAG(“just a guy”), this sure flies in the face of that silly notion. We are thankful that Riles and Arison know what they have in Spo and that he’s our guy.
We can’t wait to see what he does with his new roster, one that has more talent than they’ve had in the past few seasons. It should be amazing to watch unfold and the faithful can’t wait to see it. Either way, good for Coach Spo and great for the fans, we love having him here.