There’s no stopping Filipinos or those with Filipino lineage from reaping global accolades, this time in the field of sports. And for a country where basketball is like religion, this is welcome news.
The first Filipino and first Asian ever to coach an NBA basketball team, Erik Spoelstra, was voted Best Head Coach of the NBA’s 2020-2021 season.
Fifty-year-old Spoelstra, nicknamed “Spo” in NBA basketball circles, is head coach of the multi-titled Miami Heat,
In a poll conducted among the NBA’s team general managers in the 19th annual NBA.com General Managers Survey, Spoelstra beat Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse and former best head coach Greg “Pop” Poppovich of the San Antonio Spurs for the coveted honor.
Spoelstra, whose mother hails from San Pablo, Laguna, garnered a 46-percent rating, where he topped 3 out of 6 categories for coaches. Nurse and Poppovich were tied at 18 percent.
He earned the most votes in categories such as “Best Manager/Motivator of People” and “Best in Game Adjustments.”
The survey was published December 18, 2020 and was authored by John Schuhmann of NBA.com
His best years in the NBA came in 2011 to 2014 when he led the Heat to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances, punctuated by back-to-back NBA championships in 2012 and 2013. The team was led then by the famous “Big Three” composed of Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
He also led the team to its 5th NBA Finals appearance this year during the NBA’s “bubble” season, where they fell, 4-2, to eventual champions the Los Angeles Lakers, led by his former player James.
Other Filipinos who made it to the global basketball stage were home-grown 7-foot teener Kai Sotto, who now plays for the NBA G League’s “Ignite” team, and Mark Magpayo, who made history by becoming the first coach of Filipino and Asian descent appointed as head coach of University of California-Riverside, a US NCAA Division 1 team.