The Miami Heat have had a total of six head coaches since entering the NBA in 1988. Miami's only NBA Championship came in 2006. The three greatestcoaches in the history of the Heat franchise are Pat Riley, Erik Spoelstra and Stan Van Gundy.
Stan Van Gundy (2003 "2005)
Stan Van Gundy named the head coach of the Heat in 2003 but would only last three years. Van Gundy was an assistant to Pat Riley in the years leading in to him being named boss coach. Van Gundy has a very nice winning percentage as a coach in the regular season for Miami at approximately 60%, but he coached in just 185 games. As good as Van Gundy was in the regular season, he was a miserable 11-17 in 28 playoff games. Van Gundy was ultimately pushed aside by Pat Riley, who returned the sidelines in 2005.
Erik Spoelstra (2008 "Present)
After a terrible season of 15-67, Pat Riley returned to the front office and Erik Spoelstra was employed as the new head coach of the Heat. Spoelstra has spent his whole NBA coaching career with the Miami franchise. Spoelstra has been given the daunting task to guide the new and infamous "Big Three" of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The players have raised expectations to a record high in Miami, and its up to Spoelstra to guide them to the NBA Title. The Heat made the NBA Finals during the 2010-11 season, and were a popular NBA betting choice to win it all. However, they were not able to get past the Dallas Mavericks. So far Spoelstra has done a great job handling the three stars, and it figures to be only a matter a time before the Heat win their second NBA Championship.
Pat Riley (1995 "2003 & 2005 "2008)
Pat Riley coached the Miami Heat to their only NBA Championship in 2006. Riley coached Miami a total of 11 seasons. He has coached the Miami Heat for 849 games and has the most regular season wins at 454. He has coached the Heat in 50 playoff games winning 24 of them. Pat Riley was generally a cool, calm and collected coach but in the 2002 to 2003 season, he was fined several times for lashing out at referees after games due to a really frustrating season. Miami finish that year with a record of 25"57. The following season Riley made a decision to step away from the sidelines and went to the front office of the organization. Nonetheless Riley was not finished just yet, he found the need to coach the team again and got the opportunity in 2005 when Gundy stepped down. The team right away had an instant turnabout and would go on to finish the year 52-30. Riley's season after the Championship win was horrible and the horrendous results quickly took a toll on him. It was not long after, Riley stepped aside again, leading the way for Spoelstra to assume control of the team.
Pat Riley is the sole Miami coach to be named Coach of the Year. He achieved this feat in the 1996-97 season. More impressively, Pat Riley is the only head coach for Miami to be named to the Hall of Fame. Those two things simply make him the greatest coach in Heat history.
Stan Van Gundy (2003 "2005)
Stan Van Gundy named the head coach of the Heat in 2003 but would only last three years. Van Gundy was an assistant to Pat Riley in the years leading in to him being named boss coach. Van Gundy has a very nice winning percentage as a coach in the regular season for Miami at approximately 60%, but he coached in just 185 games. As good as Van Gundy was in the regular season, he was a miserable 11-17 in 28 playoff games. Van Gundy was ultimately pushed aside by Pat Riley, who returned the sidelines in 2005.
Erik Spoelstra (2008 "Present)
After a terrible season of 15-67, Pat Riley returned to the front office and Erik Spoelstra was employed as the new head coach of the Heat. Spoelstra has spent his whole NBA coaching career with the Miami franchise. Spoelstra has been given the daunting task to guide the new and infamous "Big Three" of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The players have raised expectations to a record high in Miami, and its up to Spoelstra to guide them to the NBA Title. The Heat made the NBA Finals during the 2010-11 season, and were a popular NBA betting choice to win it all. However, they were not able to get past the Dallas Mavericks. So far Spoelstra has done a great job handling the three stars, and it figures to be only a matter a time before the Heat win their second NBA Championship.
Pat Riley (1995 "2003 & 2005 "2008)
Pat Riley coached the Miami Heat to their only NBA Championship in 2006. Riley coached Miami a total of 11 seasons. He has coached the Miami Heat for 849 games and has the most regular season wins at 454. He has coached the Heat in 50 playoff games winning 24 of them. Pat Riley was generally a cool, calm and collected coach but in the 2002 to 2003 season, he was fined several times for lashing out at referees after games due to a really frustrating season. Miami finish that year with a record of 25"57. The following season Riley made a decision to step away from the sidelines and went to the front office of the organization. Nonetheless Riley was not finished just yet, he found the need to coach the team again and got the opportunity in 2005 when Gundy stepped down. The team right away had an instant turnabout and would go on to finish the year 52-30. Riley's season after the Championship win was horrible and the horrendous results quickly took a toll on him. It was not long after, Riley stepped aside again, leading the way for Spoelstra to assume control of the team.
Pat Riley is the sole Miami coach to be named Coach of the Year. He achieved this feat in the 1996-97 season. More impressively, Pat Riley is the only head coach for Miami to be named to the Hall of Fame. Those two things simply make him the greatest coach in Heat history.
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