The Miami Heat Just Gave Erik Spoelstra A Record Contract

ByJoey Heldon January 12, 2024inArticles›Sports News

Coaching an NBA team can be a lucrative career. Sometimes, you don’t even need to have a good team to make a lot of money. Up until now, the two highest-paid coaches — Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs and Monty Williams of the Detroit Pistons — were coaching the two worst teams in the league .

And no, we’re not saying “until now” because those teams are suddenly improving. It’s just that another coach is about to get a huge pay raise.

The Miami Heat and Erik Spoelstra just agreed to a record-setting contract extension. The new deal is worth $120 million over eight years, which is the most money committed to any coach in the history of American sports.

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Harry How/Getty Images

On an annual basis, Spoelstra, at $15 million, is still behind Popovich, who makes $19 million per year. But the total amount is more than any other coach.

The 53-year-old Spoelstra began his career as a video coordinator with the Heat. He rose up through the ranks and became an assistant coach for Pat Riley . When Riley stepped down in 2008, Spoelstra took over as head coach and has led the Heat bench ever since.

Under his watch, the Heat have reached the NBA Finals six times, including four straight years from 2011 to 2014. Those were the “Heatles” teams with LeBron James , Dwyane Wade , and Chris Bosh , which won the championship in 2012 and 2013.

More recently, the Heat made the NBA Finals in 2020, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games during the COVID-19 bubble-impacted season. Last year, the Heat went from the No. 8 seed to the finals before bowing out in five games against the Denver Nuggets.

Spoelstra is 19th on the all-time victories list among head coaches, and his 109 playoff victories are fifth all-time. Only Popovich has more among active coaches.

Over the past decade and a half, Spoelstra has become one of the most respected coaches across professional sports. He’s delivered plenty to the Heat — and they’ve rewarded him handsomely.

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The Phoenix Suns Are Paying Two Head Coaches Next Year — And Mike Budenholzer Is Making Money From Two Teams

ByJoey Heldon May 14, 2024inArticles›Sports News

The Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks didn’t have much of a shared history before the 2021 postseason. Sure, the teams played against each other every year, but there wasn’t really a rivalry or any bad blood between them. Then they met in the NBA Finals, which the Bucks won in six games after dropping the first two contests of the series.

Well, the Suns and Bucks now have something else in common: They’re both paying head coach Mike Budenholzer .

Budenholzer and the Suns agreed to a five-year deal worth a reported $50 million. Under those terms, Budenholzer will earn $10 million per season, which makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league. The hiring comes the same week as the firing of previous head coach Frank Vogel .

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Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

Now, the Suns owe Vogel the remaining $24 million or so on his deal, as well as the $50 million for Budenholzer. Unless there’s an unreported clause in Vogel’s contract, Phoenix will pay about $16 million combined to both head coaches for the next four seasons, for a grand total of $64 million.

Vogel served as the Suns’ head coach for just one season. Despite a 49-33 record and a playoff appearance, new Suns owner Mat Ishbia wanted to make a change. He got the best head coach who isn’t already tied to a team.

Budenholzer, 54, won NBA Coach of the Year during the 2014-15 and 2018-19 seasons. He has previously been head coach of the Atlanta Hawks and the Bucks. His total record as a head coach is 484-317 across ten seasons. Before that, he served as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs for over a decade and a half.

Despite the 2021 championship, the Bucks fired Budenholzer after the 2022-23 season. The Bucks finished first in the Eastern Conference but lost in the first round to the No. 8 seed Miami Heat. Budenholzer still had $16 million and two years remaining on his deal, and the Bucks owed him all of that. He made $8 million this season and is due another $8 million next year. After the brief tenure of Adrian Griffin ended midseason and Doc Rivers replaced Griffin, the Bucks are currently paying three head coaches .

It’s possible Budenholzer’s buyout was negated after he signed with another team. However, with the way some of these contracts are worded, he very well may be making $18 million next year as both the Suns and Bucks pay guys not to coach for them.

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