Twenty-eight-year-old Erik Jon Celino Spoelstra, the present head coach of Miami Heat, a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, USA, is a Filipino-American.
Born on November 1, 1970 in Evanston, Illinois, his father is Irish-Dutch Jon Spoelstra, a long-time NBA executive involved with the Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets and New Jersey Nets. His mother is former Elisa G. Celino of Barangay Mavenida in San Pablo City or a Lagunense
According to Dr. Leandro Celino Dimayuga, his San Pablo City-based cousin, Erik Spoelstra, as published in various websites, is the first Asian Filipino-American head coach in the National Basketball Association, as well as the first Asian Filipino-American head coach of any North American Professional Sports Team.
He is currently the youngest head coach in the NBA, a conference of 30 professional teams.
Website reports added that Erik grew up in Portland, Oregon, where he graduated from Jesuit High School in 1988, and from the University of Portland in 1992.
As a high school player, he was third all-time high in assists (488), tied for third in three-pointers made (156), and sixth in both three-point percentage (384) and free throw percentage (824).
He will be visiting the Philippines soon with his team for a series of exhibition games, but his hectic schedule may not make a visit to his mother’s homecity possible. (PNA)
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Topic: Fil-Am as NBA Coach (Read 2345 times)