Miami Heat

Team information

• Inaugural season: 1988
• Home arena: Kaseya Center, Miami, Florida
• Owner: Micky Arison
• Team colors: Black, red, and yellow

Overview

The Miami Heat are a professional basketball team that plays in the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Eastern Conference. The Heat joined the NBA as part of an expansion effort that saw the league grow by four teams in the late 1980s. Despite some early struggles, the Heat became one of the Eastern Conference’s best teams in the late 1990s. After taking a step back in the early 2000s, Miami was able to draft guard Dwyane Wade in 2003, a move that set up the franchise’s first NBA title in 2006. Four years later, in a much-publicized and controversial move, the franchise signed free agent superstar LeBron James. With James, Wade, and fellow All-Star Chris Bosh, the Heat became a perennial title contender, making four straight NBA Finals and winning two. By the late 2010s, the “Big Three” had all either moved on or retired, but the Heat remained competitive in the Eastern Conference.

History

The 1980s marked a decade of sustained growth for the NBA, as the league exploded in popularity and began drawing then-record TV ratings. In 1985, the league started the process of expansion, with the goal of placing one team in the state of Florida. At the time, only the NFL had any major sports teams in the state. A Miami-based group financed by Ted Arison, founder of the Carnival Cruise Lines, put in a bid to bring a team to the city. The NBA had originally planned on awarding only one team to Florida, but the league could not choose between Miami’s bid and another by a group from Orlando, so they decided to expand to both cities. Miami was to begin play in the 1988–1989 season and Orlando was to enter the league a year later. In 1995, Micky Arison, Ted Arison’s son, purchased the team from the group funded by his father.

The team name was chosen from suggestions entered in a fan contest, with Heat selected over entities such as Barracudas, Beaches, Sharks, and Tornadoes. One popular suggestion was Miami Vice, from the 1980s TV show of the same name. The team’s logo—a flaming orange basketball passing through a hoop above the team name—was also chosen after a fan vote. The logo underwent a color change from orange to red in 1999.

The Heat won just fifteen games in their first season and followed that with eighteen victories in 1989–1990. Although the team made the playoffs in 1991–1992, it was with a losing record. Still, Miami began to lay the foundation for success by trading for center Alonzo Mourning and guard Tim Hardaway in 1995. The team also hired head coach Pat Riley, who had won four NBA titles in the 1980s with the Los Angeles Lakers. The moves paid off in 1996–1997 when the Heat won their first of four straight division titles and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. However, as the veteran Hardaway began to decline with age, Mourning was forced to sit out the 2002–2003 season with a kidney ailment. The result was a 25–57 record that earned Miami the fifth pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. The Heat selected Dwyane Wade out of the University of Marquette.

Wade led the Heat to the playoffs in his rookie season, and the following year, Miami traded for Shaquille O’Neal, a seven-foot-one center who had won three NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Heat advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2005. During the 2005– 2006 season, Pat Riley, who had moved into the Miami front office in 2003, returned to the bench as coach, and led the team to its first NBA Finals appearance. After falling behind 0–2, Miami rallied to shock the Dallas Mavericks and win the championship. After being eliminated in the first round of the postseason in 2007, Miami missed the playoffs altogether in 2008. They returned in 2009 and 2010 but failed to make it out of the first round each time.

During the 2010 offseason, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James had declared for free agency and was in high demand from several NBA teams. That July, James was slated to make his choice in a live television special called The Decision. He ultimately announced that he was signing with the Miami Heat, angering fans in Cleveland who felt that he had betrayed them on national TV. Television critics and many fans around the league also felt that the televised special was self-serving and unnecessary. Nevertheless, James was set to join Wade for the 2010–2011 season. Also joining the team was All-Star center/forward Chris Bosh who arranged a trade to Miami two days after James signed. Together, the “Big Three” as they were called, made the Heat the favorites to win the NBA for several seasons to come.

True to form, Miami finished near the top of the Eastern Conference and advanced to the NBA Finals. However, they were shocked in a rematch with the Dallas Mavericks and lost the series 4–2. In 2011–2012, the Heat returned to the NBA Finals, but this time they were victorious, defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder, 4–1. Miami posted the NBA’s best regular season record in 2012–2013 and once again played for another championship. This time, the favored Heat trailed the San Antonio Spurs 3–2 before staging a furious rally in Game Six to force overtime. Miami won the game and eventually captured Game Seven to clinch the title. The Heat and Spurs met in a rematch in the 2014 NBA Finals with San Antonio dominating the series and winning 4–1.

After the season, James left Miami to return to Cleveland on a new free-agent deal. Additionally, the 2014–2015 season was marred by Bosh having to sit out the second half of the season after experiencing blood clots in his lungs. The condition returned in 2015–2016, causing Bosh to again miss the second half of the season and eventually forcing his retirement. Wade briefly left the team from 2016 to 2018 before returning and leading the Heat into the 2018 playoffs. Wade retired after the 2019 season. In 2019–2020, the Heat, now led by forward Jimmy Butler, was among the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Although the team secured playoff berths during the next two seasons, an appearance in the NBA Finals eluded the team on both occasions. The Heat finished the 2022–23 season with a 44–38 record and went on to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, and the Boston Celtics in the playoffs to secure a spot in the 2023 NBA Finals. However, the Heat were ultimately defeated by the Denver Nuggets four games to one.

Notable players

Alonzo Mourning was the first Heat player to make the All-Star team, earning that honor in 1996 after being traded to Miami from the Charlotte Hornets. Mourning would go on to make five total All-Star appearances with the Heat and win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1999 and 2000. He played in Miami from 1995 to 2002, and again from 2005 to 2008. Mourning is second on the franchise list in points scored with 9,459 and rebounds with 4,807. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. Tim Hardaway played with Miami from 1995 to 2002, making the All-Star team in 1997 and 1998. He is second on the franchise assist list with 2,867. Forward/center Udonis Haslem signed with Miami in 2003 and retired as a career member of the team in 2023. Haslem is the all-time franchise leader in rebounds with 5,746.

Shaquille O’Neal spent the bulk of his career with the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers but made three All-Star games with Miami and was an important part of the team’s 2006 championship. Over the course of his nineteen-year career, O’Neal made fifteen All-Star games and won the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 2000. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2016. Chris Bosh played for Miami from 2010 to 2016, making the All-Star team in each season with the team. He is fifth all-time on the Heat scoring list with 6,914 points.

LeBron James is considered by many to be the greatest player of the twenty-first century. With the Heat from 2010 to 2014, James scored 7,919 points—fourth on the franchise list—and won the 2012 and 2013 NBA MVP Award. He also won the Finals MVP Award in both those seasons as well. The greatest player in Heat history is undoubtedly Dwyane Wade, who played in Miami from 2003 to 2016 and again in 2018 and 2019. Wade made thirteen All-Star appearances with the Heat and won the 2008–2009 NBA scoring title. He was also the MVP of the 2006 NBA Finals. He holds franchise marks in points scored with 21,556; assists with 5,310; and steals with 1,492. Wade was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023 during his first year of eligibility.

Bibliography

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Yousefi, Ryan. “The Ten Greatest Miami Heat Players of All Time.” Miami New Times, 4 July 2018, www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-heats-ten-greatest-players-ever-10482483. Accessed 27 Apr. 2020.