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Spoelstra: 'Disturbing' that Pacers let Vogel go

Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images Sport / Getty

There's little to no job security for head coaches in the NBA these days - more than half of the league's active coaches started with their respective teams in the last three years.

Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat is the second-longest tenured coach in the NBA and the longest-tenured in the Eastern Conference with 640 games under his belt.

When made aware that the Indiana Pacers hadn't renewed Frank Vogel's contract on Thursday afternoon, Spoelstra was bothered by seeing yet another member of the coaching brotherhood shown the door.

"I think it's really disturbing, actually," Spoelstra said at Miami's shootaround. "I've only been a head coach for eight years. So what am I, the second-longest-tenured? That's a sad state of where the coaching profession is right now and stability of organizations."

Spoelstra added that he's grateful to be a part of the Heat organization, saying that if he'd been coaching anywhere else, he probably would have been fired "two or three times" by now.

Pacers president Larry Bird informed the media on Thursday that the Pacers were in need of a "new voice." Vogel's departure comes just days after Indiana was bounced from the playoffs in Game 7 by the Toronto Raptors in the opening round.

Longest-Tenured NBA Coaches (Active)

Rank Coach Team Start Date Games Coached Win%
1 Gregg Popovich San Antonio Spurs 12/10/1996 1574 .692
2 Erik Spoelstra Miami Heat 4/28/2008 640 .623
3 Rick Carlisle Dallas Mavericks 5/9/2008 640 .594
4 Dwane Casey Toronto Raptors 6/21/2011 394 .533
5 Terry Stotts Portland Trail Blazers 8/7/2012 328 .555

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