The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] The team joined the NBA in 1988 as an expansion team with the Charlotte Hornets,[2] and won its first NBA championship in 2006.[3] The team played its home games at the Miami Arena until 2000,[4] and have played its home games at the American Airlines Arena since then.[5] The Heat is owned by Micky Arison.[6]
There have been six head coaches for the Heat franchise. The franchise's first head coach was Ron Rothstein, who served for three seasons with the Heat. Pat Riley, having coached the Heat for eleven seasons in two stints, is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (849), the most regular-season game wins (454), the most playoff games coached (50), and the most playoff-game wins (26); Erik Spoelstra is the franchise's all-time leader for the highest winning percentage in the regular season (.707) and total wins (607). Riley is the only Heat head coach to be named one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history,[7] to have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award, having won it in the 1996–97 season[8] and to have been elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach, having been elected into the Hall of Fame in 2008.[9] Spoelstra is the only Heat head coach to have spent his entire NBA coaching career with the Heat, and has been the head coach of the Heat since 2008.[10]
GC | Games coached |
W | Wins |
L | Losses |
Win% | Winning percentage |
# | Number of coaches[a] |
* | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Heat |
† | Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season.
# | Name | Term[b] | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
1 | Ron Rothstein | 1988–1991 | 246 | 57 | 189 | .232 | — | — | — | — | [11] | |
2 | Kevin Loughery | 1991–1995 | 292 | 133 | 159 | .455 | 8 | 2 | 6 | .250 | [12] | |
3 | Alvin Gentry | 1995 | 36 | 15 | 21 | .417 | — | — | — | — | [13] | |
4 | Pat Riley | 1995–2003 | 624 | 354 | 270 | .567 | 43 | 18 | 25 | .419 | One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history (1996)[7] 1996–97 NBA Coach of the Year[8] One of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History (2022)[14] |
[9] |
5 | Stan Van Gundy | 2003–2005 | 185 | 112 | 73 | .605 | 28 | 17 | 11 | .607 | [15] | |
— | Pat Riley | 2005–2008 | 225 | 100 | 125 | .444 | 27 | 16 | 11 | .593 | NBA championship (2006)[3] | [9] |
6 | Erik Spoelstra* | 2008–present | 1,277 | 750 | 527 | .587 | 189 | 110 | 79 | .582 | NBA championship (2012, 2013)[16] One of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History (2022)[17] |