Through 18 games, the shorthanded Miami Heat are 12-6 and third in the Eastern Conference. So much of the team’s success can be credited to coach Erik Spoelstra, who in his 18th season continues to prove his elite leadership. As a result, longtime NBA insider Rachel Nichols has Spoelstra atop her list of the best coaches. 

“Erik Spoelstra is just one of the best coaches in the league,” said Nichols about her Coach of the Year list via Sports Illustrated. “He's the best coach.” 

“He was willing to, this summer, completely rip up their playing style. He's the first person when LeBron was there to sort of bring in this positionless basketball idea. And teams have gone with it, receded from going with it, et cetera, but that came out of his coaching sort of brain there. Now that he's going with the “we don't do pick and rolls” and sort of the whole sort of free form. I mean, it's amazing.” 

Spoelstra’s unique coaching style created a formula for the rest of the league to adopt in some capacity. Recently, LeBron James referenced his former coach’s positionless basketball approach in his own game. 

“I’m a ball player,” James said. “The best thing about me and the way I’ve built my game over my whole life is I’ve never had a position.” 

“Spo always used to say- positionless basketball; be positionless. There’s not one team or one club in the world that I can’t fit in and play with. I can do everything on the floor, so whatever this team needs me to do, and more, I can do it.” 

With three rings (one as an assistant, two as head coach) Spoelstra is one of the winningest active coaches in the league. He has also won the Eastern Conference six times, illustrating his success through the eras of Miami Heat basketball, from theBig 3 lead by James, to the Jimmy Butler saga and the current roster; Spoelstra has gotten the most out of his teams. 

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Former NBA Guard Compares Cavs All-Star To Dwyane Wade: 

There is no questioning the dominance former Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade exercised over the league in his prime years. A hyperathletic guard who at peak form became the 2006 NBA Finals MVP, Wade made his mark as one of the greatest shooting guards to ever step on the floor.  

Wade’s accolades illustrate his excellence, but former NBA guard Jeff Teague believes a current All-Star guard is just as good despite not having the same accolades yet.