Fire crews battled a massive blaze early Thursday morning at a home registered to Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Firefighters were called to the scene around 4:36 a.m. after reports of a fire at a single-family residence in the south Miami neighborhood of Ponce Davis, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. Property records show the home belongs to Spoelstra, who returned from an away game just hours earlier, according to The Sun.
When crews arrived, they found “two structures on the property fully involved” in flames and immediately called for backup. Twenty units—including a hazardous materials team—responded to the scene, Battalion Chief Victoria Byrd said.
“Due to the privacy wall and a lot of the tree cover, it was very difficult to access, with only one point of entry,” Byrd told local reporters.
Officials said the fire was so intense that part of the home collapsed, forcing crews to switch to a “defensive attack.” Firefighters used both aerial and ground operations to douse the blaze, which was eventually contained. No injuries were reported, and authorities confirmed the fire did not spread to nearby homes.
The Heat had just wrapped up a road game in Denver the night before, losing 122–112 to the Nuggets. The Associated Press reported that the team’s chartered flight landed in Miami at 5:11 a.m.—roughly the same time firefighters were still battling the flames.
According to The Sun, Spoelstra, 55, went directly home from the airport, where fire crews were working to bring the blaze under control. The outlet also reported that Spoelstra purchased the five-bedroom residence in December 2023.
The two-time NBA champion and longtime Heat coach finalized his divorce from wife Nikki Spoelstra in November 2023. The couple met when she was a Miami Heat dancer and married in July 2016. They share three young children, Santiago, 6, Dante, 4, and Ruby, 2.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue has not released details about the cause of the fire, and the department said the investigation remains ongoing.
Spoelstra, one of the NBA’s longest-tenured coaches, has been with the Miami Heat organization for nearly three decades and has led the team to multiple championships since taking over as head coach in 2008.
As of Thursday afternoon, neither Spoelstra nor the Miami Heat organization had publicly commented on the incident.
The Daily Beast has contacted Spolestra for comment.
It comes after Miami Heat player Terry Rozier was arrested in Orlando last month. The arrest was also made after the Heat lost their season opener. He did not feature in the game due to a hamstring injury.
FBI Director Kash Patel said 30 people were arrested across 11 states, connected to allegations that of a gambling operation with ties to the mafia.
