The National Basketball Association’s Miami Heat organization has named Filipino-American Erik Spoelstra as its head coach, replacing the Hall of Famer Pat Riley.

Spoelstra is the first Filipino-American to become head coach in any major American professional sports league, and has worked his way up the ranks of the Heat organization since 1995, when he was hired as the team’s video coordinator.

After working as assistant coach and director of scouting for the Heat the past eight seasons, Spoelstra’s 13-year experience with the franchise, mostly under Riley, will serve him well as he and the young team look to rebound from an NBA-worst, 15-67 record.

The son of longtime NBA executive, Jon Spoelstra, and Elisa Celino, a native of San Pablo, Laguna, Erik has been fortunate to be around the professional game his entire life, and welcomes yet another opportunity to prove himself.

“I am extremely honored to have been promoted to head coach of the Miami Heat,” Spoelstra wrote in an email to FilAm Star. “I am also thrilled to become the league’s first Filipino-American head coach. I am proud of my heritage, so this is a great honor.”

Similar to the path started by Riley, who began his coaching career with no professional experience at the age of 36, Spoelstra is a 37 year-old head coach whose previous highest level of coaching in the U.S., was for the Heat’s summer league team the past three years.

In terms of his level of experience working with the players, evaluating talent and studying film, however, Spoelstra is a grizzled veteran NBA coach, and has the immediate backing from the team’s franchise player, Dwayne Wade.

“I believe in Coach Spo and have complete confidence that our team will succeed with him at the helm,” Wade said in an Associated Press release.

As for Riley, he is staying on with the Heat, and continuing his role as the team’s president and chief operating executive.

Both Riley and Spoelstra will certainly be busy this off-season, as the team is looking at receiving the first pick in the upcoming 2008 NBA draft, along with the probability of making some free agent acquisitions.

Incidentally, Spoelstra, now the NBA’s youngest head coach, is retaining the current Heat coaching staff, which is less than two years removed from the team’s 2006 NBA Championship.

“I’ve worn a lot of different hats for the organization throughout the years, so it’s very rewarding for me to be given this opportunity,” Spoelstra wrote in his email. “I know how difficult it is to get a head coaching job in this league, no matter how young, old, experienced or inexperienced you are.”

The hiring of Spoelstra into the exclusive NBA head coaching fraternity is a positive step in the right direction for the league, and a crowning achievement for the young Filipino-American.

“Miami is a great melting pot for many different ethnicities in the world,” Spoelstar told the Star. “The Heat and I are looking forward to developing more relationships with the Filipino-American community in Miami in the future. This would mean a lot to me.”

- The Fil-Am Star