Nikki Sapp is no stranger to the NBA community. She became well known for her acquaintance with the Heat‘s Coach Erik Spoelstra. The two were married for seven years and recently divorced in November 2023. However, their story dates back further than this. Spoelstra had been with the Heat since 1997 as the Assistant Coach and in 2008, he was promoted to the Coach’s seat. In 2005, an 18-year-old Nikki entered the scene as a cheerleader for the Heat.

It was around this time that the two became close and, after dating for a while, they were engaged in 2015. They eventually tied the knot in July of the following year. The now ex-wife of Coach Spo hosts her podcast called The Know with Nikki Spo, a venture that began in December 2021. In one episode of the show, she shares a deplorable piece of advice she received from a friend.

Nikki Sapp was more than just a dancer

Life wasn’t rainbows and butterflies for Nikki; after dancing for the Heat through school, she had to hold three jobs to support herself. But she somehow made it work. During this time, a friend had given her a startling piece of advice; the friend said, “You could just work at Hooters. I’m sure you’ll find a rich guy there to take care of you.” This comment infuriated Nikki because it seemed to dismiss the significant effort she was making to better her situation.

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So, she decided, “I can do the hard things and so I was pissed off and I was like yeah you want to see what I’m going to do? I’m going to work three jobs, I’m going to go to school full-time and I’m going to pay all my stuff and I’m going to save money.” And that’s exactly what she did. Moreover, when she started dating Spoelstra, people tagged her as a “gold digger“, which was discouraging, because she had earned whatever money she had at the time.

Nikki’s now ex-husband Coach Spo made the headlines recently, thanks to a lucrative contract extension with Miami.

The highest-paid coach in the NBA

In a recent development, the Heat decided to pay Spoelstra an incredible $120 million to extend his contract for eight years, making him the highest-paid coach in the league. Before the extension, he was in the final season of his contract. While Nikki’s pockets may not be as deep, she was always a hard worker who never looked to anyone else for financial support. When she was dancing for the Heat, Nikki simultaneously attended the Florida International University.

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She graduated in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in art history. She subsequently started working as the Director of Guy Hepner Contemporary Art Gallery in California. On the side, she also spent five years teaching dance and language arts at the Sports Leadership and Management Charter School in Miami. Then she took up the Creative Art Director position in LA’s Art Angels Gallery. It wasn’t an easy journey, but she managed to make it work, and now she can finally look back and be proud of everything she accomplished on her own.

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