Hoops Habit
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NBA: Greatest head coach in each team’s franchise history

By Josh Cornelissen

Gregg Popovich, Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Gregg Popovich, Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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Dwyane Wade, Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat
Dwyane Wade, Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat. (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Greatest head coach in Miami Heat history: Erik Spoelstra, 2008-Present

No team in the NBA has employed as few coaches-per-season-played as the Miami Heat. Since their inception in 1988, only six men have walked the Miami sideline as head coach, including 36 games Alvin Gentry coached as an interim coach in 1995.

After a slow start, the Heat have been consistently stout for the past 25 years under the leadership of three men. Pat Riley coached 849 games for the franchise, one of the highest totals for any coach on any team, but just second in Heat history. He won 454 games and the 2006 NBA Championship with Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal as his star players.

Stan Van Gundy oversaw the early years of Wade, as the Heat fought in the early 2000s, winning over 60 percent of his games in both the regular season and postseason. With just two seasons under his belt before Riley returned to take over as coach, he impressed more with the Orlando Magic at his next stop.

The most successful coach in Miami Heat history is Erik Spoelstra, the second heir to Riley’s Miami throne, who coached so well he kept the position when the team suddenly became a superteam overnight in 2010. Few coaches around the league are as respected as “Spo” is, working tirelessly and instilling a strong culture in his squads.

Spoelstra has now coached 11 seasons with the team, totaling 523 wins in 886 regular-season games and another 71 playoff victories. Four times has Miami made the NBA Finals with Spoelstra, winning it all in 2012 and 2013.

As the team has flipped over its entire roster in recent years (sans Udonis Haslem), Spoelstra has demonstrated his worth, keeping that same team culture and not allowing the team to fold no matter the roster makeup or health.

The franchise has been lucky to have such a collection of talented head coaches. Riley’s time as the head coach would have led the list for many franchises. In Miami, Spoelstra’s ability to keep his job and excel with LeBron James, followed by success without him, shows that he is a gifted coach and worthy of recognition.