Who is Erik Spoelstra you may ask? If you don't already know who he is; let me introduce him: He is the first Filipino-American head coach in the NBA of the Miami Heat.Spoelstra is also one of the youngest head coaches in the NBA.Right now, he is also in the spotlight due to recent changes in the NBA.Lebron James announced he will not be staying with the Cleveland Cavaliers and will be joining the Miami Heat this fall with Dwayne Wade and recently added new teammate Chris Bosh; formerly from the Toronoto Raptors.This fall,Coach Spoelstra will have a huge responsiblilty.The "Triple Play" is expecting to win a 2011 championship.
Here is a quick bio on Erik Spoelstra:
Born: Erik Celino Spoelstra
D.O.B: November 1, 1970
Birthplace: Evanston,Illinois
His parents are :father, Jon Spoelstra, was an NBA Executive for the Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Buffalo Braves and New Jersey Nets.Mother, Elisa Celino is from San Pablo, Laguna in the Philippines.He has stated to the Philippine sports media that he would like to bring NBA style coaching/playing to the Philippines.
He attended the the University of Portland and played a starting point guard.After college he spent two years as a player/coach for TuS Herten (later the Herten Ruhr Devils), a German professional team.
Spoelstra joined the Heat staff in 1995 as the team's video coordinator. 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."[1]
In April 2008, Spoelstra was named successor to Pat Riley as head coach of the Miami Heat. Spoelstra is the NBA's youngest current head coach. 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."[2] Pat Riley plans to change his approach from when Stan Van Gundy was the coach. Riley predicted: "A lot of players want the discipline; they will play [hard] for Spoelstra, because 'they respect him.'"[3]
2.^ a b Ex-Pilot, Crusader Erik Spoelstra named Miami Heat coach
1.^ Inquirer.net, Spoelstra first Filipino NBA head coach
3.^ miamiherald.com, Riley to change course with coach
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