Erik Spoelstra signs eight-year extension with Heat worth at least a reported $100 million

Erik Spoelstra is the best coach in the NBA right now and the Heat are paying him like it.

Spoelstra and the Heat have agreed to an eight-year contract extension worth at least $100 million, according to multiple reports (Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports $120 million, although that likely includes incentive bonuses).

Contracts in the past year for Gregg Popovich in San Antonio and Monty Williams in Detroit set the bar for top coaches at north of $10 million a season. Since then, both Steve Kerr in Golden State and Michael Malone in Denver have signed extensions in that range. This extension brings Spoelstra into that group, which he deserves after leading seemingly undermanned Heat rosters to the NBA Finals two of the past four seasons. Even players who were not originally fans have come around on Coach Spo.

Spoelstra has been the Heat coach since 2008 and has come to embody the Heat culture. He worked his way up from a video coordinator to the big chair and it's widely expected around the league that at some point in the future — not soon, but eventually — he will step from coaching into the Heat front office.

Spoelstra has won two NBA titles as a coach and gotten Miami to the Finals six times. In his 15 years as a head coach, the Heat have had a losing record twice.

This is a smart signing by Miami — when you have the best in the business you don't let them go. As for Spoelstra, he doesn't want to be anywhere else.