Erik Spoelstra secures his 700th career win, one of only four coaches to do so for one franchise

Another milestone for the future Hall of Fame coach.

Last night was one of, if not the biggest win of the season for the Miami Heat. After going 0-2 against the New York Knicks in the first 2 meetings between the teams this year, Miami got their revenge on their home floor and pulled out the huge victory. It wasn’t only a big game in terms of playoff seeding, but it was also a historic night for the Heat’s longtime coach Erik Spoelstra. He secured his 700th career win, one of only four coaches in NBA history to do so with one single franchise. Even doing so with Dwyane Wade in the house, who was sitting court-side yesterday evening.

The greatness of Spoelstra should not go unnoticed. In this day and age of the NBA it is getting more rare to see coaches stick around long term. To be at the helm of leading this Heat team since 2008 just shows the longevity and stability within the front office and staff of the franchise, not to mention with Spoelstra himself as well. Pat Riley put his trust into a young Spoelstra not long after winning a world championship back in 2006.

That is some big shoes to fill, knowing that you are a rookie head coach thrown into the mix of a winning culture from a professional sports team. Spo accepted the challenge and it worked out better than anybody would have ever expected. He has really been through it all with this franchise.

From prime Dwyane Wade years in the very beginning, to the big three era, to the “father prime” Wade era, and now to the Jimmy Butler era. Not to mention several years in the middle where he managed to make a Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside led squad a playoff contender.

It is very impressive to know that with Spoelstra as the coach, there has never once been a “tanking” season. No matter what players he had to utilize and amid many roster changes, he has kept this team competitive and fighting for a playoff spot every single season with winning habits and strong culture.

With all this being said, he took on arguably one of the biggest challenges that any NBA coach could have done. In just his 4th year, LeBron James and Chris Bosh decided to join Dwyane Wade and co. in South Beach to form a dominant super team in a talented Eastern Conference.

It didn’t start well right off the bat. In fact, the first year the big three were assembled the Miami Heat struggled out of the gate with a 9-8 record to begin the season. There was talk and rumors circulating that maybe Pat Riley needed to step in and take over coaching the team. Spoelstra never let the outside noise get to him. He stayed the course and found his way guiding that “must see TV” basketball team to an NBA Finals berth the same season.

The Heat went on to make 4 straight Finals during that era, winning 2 championships in that span, including back to back in 2012 and 2013. Spoelstra is responsible for being the voice of 2 out of the 3 franchise championship wins, and even made a return back to the Finals with Jimmy Butler 6 years from the last franchise Finals appearance in 2020.

Spo has been involved with 5 NBA Finals teams and even another Conference Finals team last year, all with the Miami Heat.

His resume speaks for itself, and the fact that this man has zero Coach of the Year awards is unbelievable. Regardless of the hardware, Spoelstra has been considered one of the top coaches in the league for a while now, and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

To all of Heat Nation, be blessed to have a coach of Spo’s caliber on this team. We all look forward to seeing more wins stack up over the next years down in Miami.