Erik Spoelstra's dual heritage: Exploring his Filipino roots and coaching role with Team USA
Team USA received a rock star welcome when they arrived in the Philippines ahead of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, but no one on the squad has a stronger connection to the country than assistant coach Erik Spoelstra.
Basketball
Erik Spoelstra is a three-time NBA champion, a two-time NBA All-Star Game head coach, and in 2021 he was named on the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History list. But one wonders how his path in basketball could have changed had a little bit of paperwork not been delayed.
Spoelstra's epic journey to becoming an NBA champion
Back in 1992, Spoelstra graduated from the University of Portland after four years of study and basketball; the 1.88m (6 ft 2) was the Pilots' starting point guard and averaged 9.2 points, 4.4 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game. After initially boxing shoes at a Nike warehouse, the recent graduate planned to move to the Philippines - his mother's homeland - to play professional basketball. But the neccessary paperwork didn't make it to the relevant authorities in time, and instead he went to Germany, spending two years in Basketball Bundesliga's second division as a player–assistant coach for TuS Herten. And the rest, as they say, is history.
While in Germany Spoelstra received a job offer from the Miami Heat to be their video coordinator, which he duly accepted. After two years as a coordinator, Spoelstra was promoted to assistant coach/video coordinator, and then again to assistant coach/advance scout in 1999. By 2001, the former Nike warehouse employee had risen to become the assistant coach and director of scouting for an NBA franchise. It was a meteoric rise for the young American, and merited, too: after all, Spoelstra's father Jon was an NBA marketing executive at the time who helped his son get his foot in the door with the Heat. But Spoelstra's success has all been thanks to his undeniable basketball IQ and work ethic. LeBron James, whom Spoelstra coached during James' tenure with the Heat from 2010 to 2014 gives this insight into Spoelstra's commitment to his craft.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra and LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat.
"We never seen him out anywhere," James told ESPN in 2011. "Dinner? Never. We never see Spo.
"He's probably breaking down the next game, or breaking down the game we just got done playing," James says. "He's preparing. He's always prepared."
Spoelstra has even been credited with improving Dwayne Wade's jump shot and balance after the Heat legend returned from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, when the USA - who had been heavy favourites to win gold - finished in third place.
Spoelstra won his first NBA championship as an assistant coach in 2006, and two years later the head coach of the Heat - Hall of Famer Pat Riley - stepped down. Spoelstra was named as his successor.
Over the course of the next 14 years, Spoelstra has guided the Heat to two NBA titles (2012, 2013), coached two All-Star games, was named as one of the top 15 coaches in NBA history, is currently the second-longest tenured coach in the NBA behind Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, and is now a part of Team USA's coaching setup at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
But it all could have been so different if it weren't for that bit of late paperwork.
How might Spoelstra's career have turned out had he gone to the Philippines?
Despite not making it to Asia during his brief professional playing career, Spoelstra has made the effort to travel to the archipelagic country to connect with his family and grow the game of basketball.
Spoelstra's return to the Philippines
Spoelstra is a national hero in the Philippines, largely due to his enormous success in professional basketball, but also for his efforts in running dozens of basketball clinics in the country.
“I have a great deal of pride in my heritage and I’m close with my family over here,” Spoelstra, whose mother Elisa is from the city of San Pablo, Laguna, told the Associated Press. “When I first started coming over, I just wanted to give back and do as much as I could, in terms of clinics and continue to grow the game and just be involved in the movement. That’s what I call it. Basketball really is like a religion in the Philippines.”
It's not too much of an exaggeration — there are 25,000 indoor courts and countless outdoor courts in the country (some of which have rims made out of barbed wire). When the World Cup tipped off in the country last Friday (25 August), schools and some businesses were closed to mark the occasion and watch Gilas Pilipinas in action against the Dominican Republic (the Philippines lost 87-81, but a record-breaking crowd of 38,115 turned up to the Mall of Asia Arena to watch the game).
So whenever Spoelstra travels to his maternal homeland, you can imagine the kind of reception he receives from the basketball-crazed nation — especially when he brings the Larry O'Brien Trophy (awarded to the team that wins the NBA championship) with him. The dozens of clinics he's led have received hundres of attendees; on one occassion 1,000 people turned up for a clinic with just 10 staffers using four basketballs across two courts.
In 2023, Spoelstra is back in the Philippines again, though it's unlikely he'll have time to put on another clinic; Team USA have already secured their passage to the second round of the World Cup, and with Gilas Pilipinas failing to progress to the second round, one can expect Team USA to receive a favourable home crowd at every one of their games moving forward, thanks in large part to Spoelstra.
“I never played in the PBA like I wanted, but I ended up getting to share the game in a different way,” Spoelstra said. “And that’s a beautiful thing as well. It didn’t need to be me playing. It worked with me going back and giving back and still getting to do this.”