Erik Spoelstra

Erik Jon Spoelstra ( ; born November 1, 1970), nicknamed "Coach Spo", is an Filipino-American professional basketball coach who is the head coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Spoelstra is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in the league and one of the greatest of all time. He has won two NBA championships as the head coach of the Heat. A Filipino American, Spoelstra is the first Asian American head coach in the history of the four major North American sports leagues and the first Asian American head coach to win an NBA title. Spoelstra played college basketball with the Portland Pilots before playing professionally and coaching in Germany. He 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. He was promoted to head coach in the 2008–09 season. The Heat have made six NBA Finals appearances during Spoelstra's tenure, winning the championship in 2012 and 2013. Early life and education Spoelstra was born in Evanston, Illinois, to Jon Spoelstra and Elisa Celino. Jon, an American of Dutch and Irish descent, is a former NBA executive of the Buffalo Braves, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, and New Jersey Nets. Elisa is a native of San Pablo, Laguna, Philippines. Spoelstra is also the grandson of Watson Spoelstra, a long-time sportswriter for The Detroit News. Erik Spoelstra spent his childhood in Buffalo, New York, before moving to Portland, Oregon by the late 1970s. He attended Raleigh Hills Elementary and Whitford Jr. High School in Portland, before attending Jesuit High School in Beaverton, Oregon, where he excelled at point guard on the basketball team. He wore number 30 during high school and college in honor of then-Trail Blazer Terry Porter, one of his favorite NBA players. Before his senior year, Spoelstra participated in Sonny Vaccaro's Nike All-Star camp in Princeton, New Jersey, alongside future NBA players Alonzo Mourning, Shawn Kemp, Billy Owens, and Bobby Hurley.