Miami Heat Fil-Am coach Erik Spoelstra creates history anew

Posted by has in , , , , , on Friday, May 27, 2011

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has once again made history by being the first Filipino-American and Asian coach to bring his team to the NBA Finals.

Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra | Getty Images

This is after Miami Heat won against Chicago Bulls in NBA Eastern Conference Final playoffs.

Prior to this record, Spoelstra was recognized for being the first Filipino-American head coach of any North American professional sports team and the youngest head coach who started at the age of 37.

His records also include being a bench tactician of Miami Heat, wherein during the time he started head coaching in 2008-2009 season the team's previous season record of 15 wins - 57 losses was changed to 43-39 win-loss record.

Erik Spoelstra, 40, was born to an Irish-Dutch-American father Jon and a Filipino mother Elisa Celino who hails from San Pablo, Laguna, Philippines.

Spoelstra was picked to replace legendary coach Pat Riley to lead the Heat's campaign in April 2008.

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