Erik Spoelstra is celebrating a new lease of life after finalising his divorce from his wife and with it, a mega $120million contract with the Miami Heat to boot.
The respected NBA coach is set to continue his work after committing his future to the team following months of speculation about his future.
The contract is said to be worth a whopping $120m and will stretch the 53-year-old’s stint with the Florida franchise beyond two decades.
Spoelstra, who has been in charge of the Heat since 2008, is a two-time NBA champion and widely recognized as one of the best to grace the game, so such figures won’t come as a surprise.
He stands to earn the highest amount of any coach in terms of committed money in the NBA’s history with the eight-year deal, which ties him to the Heat until 2032.
NBA icon LeBron James gave his approval to his new contract and claimed Spoelstra was worth ‘every single cent’ of the investment.
“Worth Every Single Cent of that contract!!! Congrats Spo!!” James wrote.
Spoelstra delayed contract announcement to hide from divorce
The timing of the announcement, a matter of weeks after his divorce was finalized, is surely no coincidence. While details of the settlement has not been made public, it remains to be seen whether Spoelstra‘s ex-wife will have any right to claiming earnings from his new mega contract.
Spoelstra and his former cheerleader wife Nikki, 36, split in November 2023 after seven years of marriage, confirming they had made a “joint” decision to file for divorce.
“We have made the difficult yet amicable decision to jointly file to formally end our marriage,” the pair told the Miami Herald in a joint statement.
“We are both grateful for our relationship and remain fully committed to co-parenting our children and continuing to make them our shared priority.
