MIAMI – With the Miami Heat finally having a fully healthy roster in the 106-103 win, which is the team's sixth straight, over the Milwaukee Bucks in a consequential NBA Cup group play game, the victory meant more for head coach Erik Spoelstra. Wednesday's win marked the 800th for the Heat head coach, a milestone that Spoelstra didn't even know he had reached.

After the win, Spoelstra would head to the locker room to be flooded with players throwing water on him, asking, “For what?” He would then realize after the team told him about the historic mark, as he's the 17th coach to reach those heights, and the third coach ever to do it with one team, joining Gregg Popovich and Jerry Sloan.

“I was very confused,” Spoelstra said. “Calculating that maybe we qualified for the cup. And then I'm looking around like nobody else is getting water dumped on them.”

Heat's Erik Spoelstra on the 800 wins not sinking in

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra reacts during the fourth quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum.
Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

While the Heat are impressing with their new offense, especially with Tyler Herro and others returning to the lineup, it is an example of what Spoelstra has been willing to do to win basketball games. Ever since taking up the mantle as head coach in 2008, Spoelstra has cemented himself as one of the all-time greats, with still lots of years left to add to his legacy.

Spoelstra would continue talking about how the moment hadn't hit him, but found it fitting that the game he got the 800th win came a day before Thanksgiving. It would lead to Spoelstra reminiscing about this past offseason and the brotherhood of the coaching staff and players.

“It hasn't sunk in yet, because I wasn't aware of it,” Spoelstra said. “I guess it's fitting that it comes on the eve of Thanksgiving, right? Like, I just feel incredible gratitude for this organization and all of these years…Having a hell of a time. You know, I love what I do. I love coaching, I love this profession, I love working for this organization, I love working for and with amazing players and staff, you know, like we have too many to count over the years, but we have an incredible bond, our coaching staff right now, it's just so much fun.”

“After that loss and or the playoff series loss against Cleveland, you know, we all took a bunch of time off, and then we got to work,” Spoelstra continued. “And it was one of the more gratifying summers, just really buckling down and trying to figure out how we can be better. But it really is like a brotherhood, our coaching staff, the players, it's just a fun locker room, a very ambitious locker room.”

Article Continues Below

Heat's Tyler Herro on Erik Spoelstra reaching the milestone

As Spoelstra is feeling a range of emotions, there is no denying that he will quickly shift his focus back to the season and continue to improve the team after back-to-back games where the offense took a dip. Still finding ways to win at the end, helped by Herro's scoring 24 and 29 points in back-to-back games, the team will go back to the drawing board to regain its early success.

Herro would talk about Spoelstra getting 800 wins, as the star guard has been with the coach since being drafted in the first round in 2019, resulting in a chunk of the victories. Herro would speak about Spoelstra being one of the best, while having the same luxury at the college level, while at Kentucky with John Calipari.

“Trying to think of how old I was when [Spoelstra] probably got his first one, to be where he is now and got 800 of them is insane,” Herro said. “For me, just to be as a player, to be coached by one of the best coaches ever at the college level, and then obviously, now at the NBA level, I soak it all in. It's just a great opportunity and experience for myself to be coached by Spo.”

For Spoelstra, he would harken back to what Pat Riley told him when he first got the job to be Miami's head coach:

“When Pat [Riley] told me that I was going to be the head coach, he said I was going to blink, and it would be 10 years [that] would go by,” Spoelstra said. “That's what I'm feeling. I'm feeling great gratitude heading into Thanksgiving.”

The Heat are now 13-6 and get a two-day break before Saturday's game against the Detroit Pistons.