Spoelstra Reaches 800 Wins with the Heat on an Unforgettable Night
Amidst the overflowing joy in the locker room, after the Miami Heat’s victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in an NBA Cup game, coach Erik Spoelstra was surprised by a water bath. The reason: to celebrate his 800th career victory. The scene, filled with jubilation, took the coach by surprise. “I was very confused,” Spoelstra admitted on Wednesday night. “I was calculating if we had qualified for the Cup. Then I looked around and nobody else was getting water, and I thought, ‘Wait a minute, what’s going on here?'” It was then that Spoelstra learned of the milestone. He becomes the seventeenth coach in NBA history to reach that number of wins, and the third to achieve it with a single team, alongside Gregg Popovich of San Antonio and Jerry Sloan of Utah.This achievement comes just weeks after Spoelstra lost his home in a fire. His children were not there at the time and Spoelstra was returning from a trip when the fire started. Despite the adversity, he hasn’t missed a day of work and the Heat haven’t slowed down; they have a 13-6 record this season, the third best in the Eastern Conference.I still can’t believe it because I wasn’t aware. It’s fitting that this is happening on the eve of Thanksgiving. I feel incredible gratitude for this organization and for all these years. I’m having a wonderful time. I love what I do, I love coaching, I love this profession, I love working for this organization, I love working for, and with, incredible players and staff, too many to count over the years.
Erik Spoelstra
