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The Miami Heat have signed coach Erik Spoelstra to an eight-year contract extension worth at least $120 million. Incidentally, the development came just weeks after the champion NBA coach separated from his longtime wife, Nikki Sapp.
Fans took to social media to react to the new deal, with some pointing to the timing of it in relation to the end of his seven-year marriage with Nikki.
Below are what some of them wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra calls it quits with wife
Two-time Miami Heat champion coach Erik Spoelstra and his wife Nikki announced in late November that they were ending their marriage of seven years.
They said that it was a tough decision to make but they arrived at it amicably, with both jointly filing for divorce. In a joint statement, the two said:
"We are both grateful for our relationship and remain fully committed to co-parenting our children and continuing to make them our shared priority."
Spoelstra got engaged to the former Heat cheerleader on Sept. 17, 2015.
Less than a year later, they got married in Miami Lakes, Florida. They have three children, sons Santiago, who was born in 2018, and Dante (2019), and daughter Ruby Grace (2022).
Nikki hosts The Know with Nikki Spo podcast.
Eric Spoelstra, meanwhile, is coaching in his 16th season in Miami. On Tuesday, he agreed to stay in South Beach for the foreseeable future.
Overall, he has been with the Heat for 29 years, starting as a video coordinator before climbing up the ladder to become an assistant. In 2008, he was chosen to become the new head coach to replace Pat Riley.
Spoelstra led Miami to back-to-back NBA titles in 2012 and 2013, with a team boasting LeBron James and Hall of Famers Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. He's the NBA’s second longest-tenured coach, behind only Hall of Famer Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs.
The Heat are fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 21-15 record.
