TheMiami Heat are an American professionalbasketball team based inMiami. They play in theSoutheast Division of theEastern Conference in theNational Basketball Association (NBA).[1] The team joined the NBA in 1988 as anexpansion team with theCharlotte Hornets,[2] and won its firstNBA championship in2006.[3] The team played its home games at theMiami Arena until 2000,[4] and have played its home games at theAmerican Airlines Arena since then.[5] The Heat is owned byMicky Arison.[6]
There have been six head coaches for the Heat franchise. The franchise's first head coach wasRon 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 highestwinning percentage in the regular season (.707) and total wins (607). Riley is the only Heat head coach to be named one of thetop 10 coaches in NBA history,[7] to have won theNBA Coach of the Year Award, having won it in the1996–97 season[8] and to have been elected into theBasketball 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 theBasketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the2024–25 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 thetop 10 coaches in NBA history (1996)[7] 1996–97NBA Coach of the Year[8] One of the15 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 | 1,359 | 787 | 572 | .587 | 193 | 110 | 83 | .570 | NBA championship (2012,2013)[16] One of the15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History (2022)[14] | |
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