#3 Erik Spoeltra – Miami Heat
Even though he coached the Miami Heat to two titles in 2012 and 2013 with the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on his team, Erik Spoelstra has never won a Coach of the Year award, which is very surprising! Spoelstra has now been the head coach of the Heat for 13 seasons and is now the second-longest tenured head coach in the league behind Gregg Popovich.
The Heat have failed to have a winning record just twice during Spoelstra’s tenure and they recently made the NBA Finals in 2020, losing to the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Now, with Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo, as well as a ton of other key talents on their roster, the Heat may finally have a championship-contending roster again that could contend for a top-seed in the East.
If they finish as one of the three best teams in the East record-wise, then Erik Spoelstra will likely get a lot of love from voters for the Coach of the Year award, especially since they went 40-32 last season en route to being swept by the Bucks in the first round of the playoffs.
Miami is “all-in” on winning a championship and while they have had some disappointing finishes to their seasons as of late, Erik Spoelstra should not be on the “hot seat” whatsoever. He is one of the best coaches in the NBA and this could finally be the year that he wins a Coach of the Year trophy.
