He served as assistant coach and director of scouting for the Heat from 2001 to 2008, during which time the team won the 2006 NBA Finals.

[8][9] Jon, an American of Dutch and Irish descent,[10] is a former NBA executive of the Buffalo Braves, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, and New Jersey Nets.

[12] As a child Erik Spoelstra lived in Buffalo, New York and moved to Portland, Oregon by the late 1970s.

[13] Spoelstra wore number 30 during high school and college in honor of then-Trail Blazer Terry Porter, one of his favorite NBA players.

[8] Prior to his senior year, Spoelstra participated in Sonny Vaccaro's Nike All-Star camp in Princeton, New Jersey, alongside future NBA players Alonzo Mourning, Shawn Kemp, Billy Owens, and Bobby Hurley.

[8] Chris Wallace, then the director of player personnel for the Heat, convinced then general manager Dave Wohl to offer Spoelstra a position with the team.

[21] Spoelstra was hired as the Heat's video coordinator in 1995, although at first he was not promised the position past the summer of that year.

[6] He led the Heat to the NBA Playoffs in his first year as head coach, despite the team's league-worst record of 15-67 the previous season.

[24] Expectations of the team's success were raised significantly for the next season and beyond, after the free agent acquisitions of LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the summer of 2010.

After the team started off the 2010–11 season with a 9–8 record, some Heat players reportedly were "frustrated" with Spoelstra, and questioned if he should remain their head coach.

[27] These two issues, coupled with the relatively poor start to the season, put Spoelstra on the coaching hot seat.

[30] Spoelstra's Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games to win the NBA championship.

It started with a 100–85 win over the Toronto Raptors on February 3, 2013, and ended with a 97–101 loss to the Chicago Bulls on March 27, 2013.

Details were not released, but Spoelstra was expected to receive a pay raise and a bigger role in the front office.

[34] On February 6, 2022, Spoelstra was named as the Eastern Conference head coach for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game.

[35] On March 13, 2023, Spoelstra won his 697th game, which ranks him 20th on the all-time wins list among NBA head coaches.