Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra became just the 17th head coach in NBA history to register 800 wins. The Heat outlasted the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday at the Kaseya Center in an East Group C game for the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup.
Speaking to the media after the Heat’s 106-103 win, Spoelstra shared that he was confused why his team was celebrating too much after the win. He thought about the Heat possibly qualifying for the next round of the NBA Cup before realizing that they were celebrating his 800th victory.
“I was like very confused. I was calculating that maybe we qualified for the Cup. Then I’m looking around like nobody else is getting water dumped on them. I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. What’s going on here?’” Spoelstra said.
Spoelstra explained that the historic accomplishment hasn’t sunk in to his mind yet since he had no idea he was approaching 800 wins. He got a little teary-eyed after thanking the Heat franchise for taking a chance on him and supporting him throughout the years.
The 55-year-old coach has been with the Heat organization since 1995, when he started as a video coordinator. He rose up through the ranks to eventually become the team’s head coach in 2008, replacing his mentor, Pat Riley.
In his first 17 seasons in charge of the Heat, they have won two NBA championships and made six NBA Finals appearances.
Riley Would Trade Stars Before Firing Spoelstra
Miami Heat team president Pat Riley rewarded Erik Spoelstra with a whopping eight-year, $120 million contract extension last year. Riley has the utmost trust in Spoelstra, who helped create the famed “Heat Culture” that makes them one of the best organizations in the NBA.
Former Heat assistant David Fizdale explained in an episode of The Association on NBA TV how deep that trust between Riley and Spoelstra was.
“I’ve seen Pat threaten superstars with, ‘I’ll trade you before I fire him.’ So that’s what you’re talking about, the testament of the Heat. This dude is elite at game planning, teaching, late-game situations, motivating, all of the boxes that you need to check to be great. He checks all of them,” Fizdale said, via Basketball Network.
It’s been a while since the Heat won a title, but Riley continues to believe in Spoelstra, who has rewarded him with a new, exciting offense this season.
Spoelstra’s New Offense Taking Over The NBA
After getting demolished by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs, Erik Spoelstra went back to the drawing board in the offseason. Spoelstra took a good hard look at his offense and decided to make some massive changes.
From being a halfcourt-based offense, the Heat now has the fastest pace in the league. They are also the second-highest scoring team in the NBA so far this season, averaging 122.9 points per game.
Austin Dobbins of Sports Illustrated summarized Spoelstra’s new offense as focused on “isolations, trust, pace, and confidence in not only yourself, but those around you.” The Heat has shied away from pick-and-roll situations and utilizes spaces to create a lot of scoring opportunities via drives, kicks and cuts.
The result? A current record of 13-6, which is good for third in the Eastern Conference. They are on a six-game win streak and have won eight out of their last 10 games.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Erik Spoelstra Had Unexpected Reaction After Historic Heat Win appeared first on Heavy Sports.