The 'Miami Heat' (known as the 'HEAT' [in all capital letters] on official team publications) are a professional
basketball team based in
Miami, Florida,
United States. They play in the
National Basketball Association (NBA).
Miami is the
2006 NBA Champions
Home arenas
★
Miami Arena (1988 – 1999)
★
American Airlines Arena (1999 — current)
History
Birth of the Heat
During the boom period of the
NBA of the 1980s the league sought to expand itself from 23 teams to 26 by the end of the decade. In
Florida, a state devoid of any NBA franchises, groups from
Orlando,
Tampa/
St. Petersburg and
Miami all vied to land franchises.
The
Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority eventually endorsed a group led by NBA Hall of Famer
Billy Cunningham and former sports agent (and lifelong friend of Cunningham's)
Lewis Schaffel, who received their financial backing from
Carnival Cruise Lines founder
Ted Arison, who would be majority owner. Day-to-day operations would be handled by minority shareholders Cunningham and Schaffel.
In April 1987, the NBA expansion committee endorsed the bids of the cities of
Charlotte and
Minneapolis. However, the committee was split between awarding the third and final franchise to Miami or Orlando, causing representatives from both cities to toss barbs at the other. Finally, it was decided that the NBA would expand by 4 teams, with the
Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat debuting for the
1988 – 89 season and the
Minnesota Timberwolves and
Orlando Magic beginning for the
1989 – 90 season [1].
The Rothstein year
For their first head coach, Miami hired
Ron Rothstein, who was a longtime assistant coach under
Chuck Daly in
Detroit and who was credited with being one of the architects of Detroit's stifling defense.
The Heat came into the NBA for the 1988 – 89 season with an unproductive first year, with a roster full of young players and journeymen. Among the players on the inaugural roster were first round picks
Rony Seikaly and
Kevin Edwards, fellow rookies
Grant Long and
Sylvester Gray as well as NBA vets
Rory Sparrow,
Jon Sundvold,
Pat Cummings,
Scott Hastings,
Dwayne "Pearl" Washington and
Billy Thompson. The team started out the season by losing its first 17 games, an NBA record. It did not help that the Heat were placed in the Midwest Division of the
Western Conference, in defiance of all geographic reality. This forced them on the longest road trips in the NBA; their nearest divisional opponent was the
Houston Rockets, over 900 miles from Miami. The team ultimately finished with a league-worst 15 – 67 win-loss record.
Original Heat logo used from 1988 – 1999
To help address Miami's league-low point production, the Heat picked
Glen Rice from the
University of Michigan in the first round of the
1989 NBA Draft, and
Sherman Douglas of
Syracuse University in the 2nd round. The team also moved to the Atlantic Division of the
Eastern Conference for the 1989 – 90 season, where they would remain for the next 15 years. However, the Heat continued to struggle and never won more than two consecutive games, en route to an 18 – 64 record.
The 1989 – 90 season saw Miami awarded with the 3rd pick overall, only to parlay via two trades (first with the
Denver Nuggets and later with the
Houston Rockets) into getting the 9th and 12th picks, with which they selected
Willie Burton of the
University of Minnesota and
Alec Kessler of the
University of Georgia. Both picks flopped, as the Heat tried to turn Burton, a college small forward, into a shooting guard without much success and Kessler was bogged by injury problems and was not physical enough to be a quality NBA power forward.
While Rice, Seikaly and Douglas all showed improvement from the previous year, Miami still only went 24 – 58 and remained in the Atlantic Division basement.
Rothstein would resign as head coach at the end of the season, but later would return to the Heat prior to the 2004-05 season as an assistant coach, a role he still fulfills today.
Loughery years
In the wake of Rothstein's resignation prior to the
1991 – 92 season, the Heat hired
Kevin Loughery, who had 29 years of experience in the NBA both as a coach and a player, to be their new head coach.
For the
1991 NBA Draft, the team selected
Steve Smith from
Michigan State, an agile guard, to usher in a new era of a mature Heat team. With the help of rookie Smith,
Rony Seikaly, and a more experienced Glen Rice, the Heat finished in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with a 38 – 44 record and made the
playoffs for the first time. Playing the league-best
Chicago Bulls, the Heat were swept in three games. Steve Smith made the NBA All-Rookie team and Glen Rice finished 10th in the NBA in scoring.
The
1992-93 NBA season included the additions of draft choice
Harold Miner of the
University of Southern California as well as trading a 1st round pick (which would turn into the #10 overall pick the following season) for
Detroit Pistons forward/center
John Salley.
While Salley's addition was first met with hope because of the role that he played on two championship Pistons squads, it became quickly apparent that Salley was a quality role player for a good team, but not a quality player for a mediocre team like Miami was at the time. Salley would eventually have his playing time diminish, ultimately resulting in his being taken by the
Toronto Raptors in the 1995
expansion draft. As for the season itself, it started off poorly, with Smith missing time with a knee injury and Burton being lost for most of the year with a wrist injury. Upon Smith's return, Miami posted a winning record in February and March, but it was not enough to dig themselves out of the 13 – 27 hole they began in. They finished 36 – 46 and would not return to the playoffs.
A healthier squad fared better in
1993 – 94, posting the franchise's first-ever winning record at 42 – 40 and returning to the playoffs as the #8 seed versus the
Atlanta Hawks. After Miami had a 2-1 series lead, Atlanta rallied from the deficit to win the best-of-5 series. After that season,
Steve Smith would be selected as a member of the 2nd
Dream Team, the collection of NBA All-Stars who were selected to compete in the
1994 FIBA World Championship in
Toronto as Team USA.
Dream Team II, also made up of future Heat players
Shaquille O'Neal,
Alonzo Mourning,
Dan Majerle and
Tim Hardaway, would go on to win the tournament.
In
1994 – 95, the team overhauled their roster, trading away Seikaly, Smith, and
Grant Long. In return, the Heat obtained
Kevin Willis and
Billy Owens.
Also, at this time came a power shift in Heat's front office. On February 13, 1995 Cunningham and
Lew Schaffel were bought out by the Arison family of
Carnival Cruise Lines fame, who to that point in time had been silent partners in the day-to-day operations of the franchise. Ted Arison's son,
Micky Arison, was named Managing General Partner. He immediately fired Loughery and replaced him with
Alvin Gentry on an interim basis to try and shake up the 17 – 29 Heat. Gentry went 15 – 21 for the remaining 36 games of the season for a 32 – 50 record overall, 10 games off the previous year's mark.
Riley years
Alonzo Mourning Era
In the 1995 offseason, the Heat hired
Pat Riley from the 1980s
Los Angeles Lakers and the 1990s
New York Knicks to be the team's new president and head coach after he resigned immediately following the 1994-1995 season. Riley dropped a bombshell the night before the season began, sending
Glen Rice and
Matt Geiger (among others) to the Hornets in exchange for All-Star center
Alonzo Mourning. In a flurry of midseason deals, Riley acquired several players including
Tim Hardaway,
Chris Gatling and
Walt Williams. The Heat finished with a winning record with Mourning among the league leaders in scoring and rebounding, but lost in the playoffs in a 3-game sweep against the 72 – 10 Bulls.
The following season, the Heat made a 19-game improvement in the standings, winning their first-ever Atlantic Division title with a 61 – 21 record. Playing a key role were new additions
Dan Majerle,
P.J. Brown,
Jamal Mashburn, and
Voshon Lenard. They took out Riley's former team in seven games, rallying from a 3 – 1 series deficit, partly due to several Knicks players leaving the bench (leading to several suspensions) during a fight that occurred between
P.J. Brown and
Charlie Ward after Ward was body-slammed by the usually mild-mannered Brown, leading to a brawl. The Heat were however ousted from the playoffs in five games (after falling into a 3 – 0 series deficit) by the Bulls for the second consecutive year, this time in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Heat celebrated their 10-year anniversary in the
1997 – 98 season and captured their second straight Atlantic Division title. However, in what would become a heated rivalry, the Heat lost in the first round against coach Riley's former team, the
New York Knicks after Mourning would miss the deciding Game 5 via suspension after getting into a Game 4 altercation with
Larry Johnson and with Knicks coach
Jeff Van Gundy hanging onto Mourning's leg in an attempt to intervene.
1998-99 was a
lockout-shortened season, although Miami would have a conference-best 33-17 record to claim their first-ever #1 seed in the NBA Playoffs. In spite of their seeding, the Heat would lose to the Knicks again after
Allan Houston hit a rim-bouncing game-winning jumper in Game 5 to decide the series. The Knicks would go on to play in the 1999 NBA Finals, losing to the
San Antonio Spurs
As a result of their success on the court, the Heat moved into the
American Airlines Arena in 1999, with seats for over 20,500 fans. The Heat again lost in a deciding Game 7 to the Knicks by a single point.
.PNG)
Miami Heat alternate logo, 2000-present
During the summer of 2000, the Heat felt it finally needed a change. After losing out to the Orlando Magic to get Raptors swingman
Tracy McGrady, Miami decided to trade P.J. Brown and Jamal Mashburn to the
Charlotte Hornets (among others) in exchange for
Eddie Jones,
Anthony Mason and
Ricky Davis. Miami also picked up
Brian Grant to go along with the core of Mourning, Hardaway, Majerle, Bowen and Carter. The Heat was widely expected to be the favorites in the Eastern Conference until franchise-centerpiece Alonzo Mourning returned from the 2000 Olympics to announce he would miss the entire season due to a rare kidney disorder, known as focal glomerulosclerosis.
The Heat missed Mourning for 69 games in
2000-01, yet found success with Anthony Mason, who was named to his first All-Star game as a reserve. Brian Grant, Eddie Jones and Tim Hardaway also played well for the Heat. Alonzo Mourning returned with 13 games remaining. He was a shell of his former, MVP-candidate self and Miami was swept by the Charlotte Hornets in the first round, the same team that Miami acquired Eddie Jones and Anthony Mason from the previous summer, and Alonzo Mourning in that same year.
The following two seasons were two of the darkest in Heat history.
Pat Riley missed the playoffs for the first time in his coaching career, and much of the remaining core from the division-title winning Heat teams of the late 1990s departed (Tim Hardaway,
Bruce Bowen and Dan Majerle).
Miami rounded out its
2001-02 season roster with players well past their prime such as
Rod Strickland,
Chris Gatling,
Jim Jackson,
LaPhonso Ellis and
Kendall Gill to along with Mourning, Jones, Grant and Carter, who the Heat signed to a controversial three-year deal that many said was far too much for the young guard. And to acquire Gatling, Riley and the Heat traded away Ricky Davis, a young, promising player. The trade drew a lot of criticism at the time. The Heat also signed two young, undrafted players in
Malik Allen and
Mike James to make up for not having a first round pick in the draft. Miami also signed
Vladimir Stepania to backup Alonzo Mourning at center. The aging, veteran team narrowly missed out on the playoffs, despite having a losing record.
Unlike the 2001-02 season, Miami began to rebuild in 2002-03. The Heat drafted
Caron Butler in the first round and
Rasual Butler in the second round of the 2002 NBA Draft. Miami supposedly missed out on potentially selecting
Yao Ming by one ping-pong ball during the draft lottery . Alonzo Mourning missed the entire season due to his condition worsening and Eddie Jones also missed a huge portion of the season with an ankle injury. Miami signed
Travis Best to be the starting point guard. The Heat was led by Caron Butler and many of the youthful players that have filled out the Heat's roster since 2000 including Eddie House, Carter, Stepania, Allen and James.
A New Era Begins
Alonzo Mourning's huge contract expired the following summer, giving the Heat some much-needed cap relief to rebuild. However, Miami was still a few million dollars away from signing a max contract. On July 1, 2003, Miami was expecting to hear from Bill Duffy, agent for Anthony Carter, who was expected to make $4.1 million the upcoming season provided he exercise his option. Duffy's agency never informed the team and Miami was free from the contract. In addition, the season earlier, forward LaPhonso Ellis honorably rescinded a clause in his contract which would have forced the Heat to pay Ellis the following season, a burden the Heat could not afford to deal with in the rebuilding process.
With the cap space, Miami signed often-criticized forward
Lamar Odom and guard
Rafer Alston. Riley and the Heat also opted to draft
Dwyane Wade out of Marquette University with the 5th overall pick instead of signing a large-scale free agent point guard such as
Gilbert Arenas. The pick was somewhat surprising at the time, since it was expected the Miami would draft a true point guard rather than the shooting guard Wade. Miami also signed
Udonis Haslem out of the
University of Florida, who went undrafted a season earlier and had spent the previous season playing overseas in France. Odom, Alston, Haslem and Wade teamed up with Grant, Jones, Allen and both Butlers to form one of the most surprising teams of the season.
A few days before the start of the
2003-04 season, Pat Riley shocked the basketball world when he stepped down as head coach to focus more on his role as team president and promoted longtime assistant coach
Stan Van Gundy to the head coaching position. The team was expected to be among the league's worst by NBA prognosticators. After dealing with early injury problems to Odom, Wade and both Butlers, the team quickly gelled and formed what most members of that team consider to be the most fun season of their careers. The Heat newcomers brought youth and energy to the team. Wade broke several rookie records while other Heat players, such as Odom, revived their careers. Wade began to catch the eye of scouts and fans across the league, especially during the playoffs where Wade led the Heat in toppling the Charlotte Hornets, the same team that swept the Heat into rebuilding mode just three seasons prior. Miami lost to the
Indiana Pacers 4 – 2 in the conference semifinals. The Pacers had finished with the best record in the league and saw the Heat give Indiana a tougher series than expected.
The Shaquille O'Neal/Dwyane Wade Era
After the promising 2003-04 season, Miami again took major steps forward. The Heat acquired superstar center
Shaquille O'Neal on
July 14,
2004 in a historic trade with the
Los Angeles Lakers in which Miami shipped Lamar Odom,
Caron Butler and
Brian Grant out west. Dwyane Wade and O'Neal worked well as a pair and each solidified their position as NBA elites with both averaging over 20 points per game. The season also reunited several former club members. Ron Rothstein, the Heat's inaugural head coach, became an assistant coach and both Steve Smith and Alonzo Mourning rejoined the team as role players.
The Heat had its second best record in franchise history: 59 – 23. They were seeded first in the playoffs, and swept through the first two rounds by winning eight consecutive games against
New Jersey and
Washington and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals against defending champion
Detroit. The teams split the first four games before Miami pushed the Pistons to the brink of elimination with an easy 88-76 victory in Game 5, but in the process lost Dwyane Wade to a strained rib muscle suffered in an attempt to take a charge against Pistons forward
Rasheed Wallace. Without Wade, the Heat were routed 91 – 66 in Game 6 at Detroit, setting up a deciding Game 7 in Miami. In that game, Wade returned, and the Heat held a 6-point lead with 3 minutes remaining before a series of missed shots and turnovers down the stretch cost the Heat the game and the series to the
Detroit Pistons, 4 – 3 in their 88-82 game 7 loss . Wade apparently struggled to breathe throughout the game due to the rib injury, forcing the Heat's star to play in a limited capacity, although he remarkably managed to score 20 points.
In the offseason, the Heat were drastically retooled. In what is considered to be the largest trade in NBA history, in a 5-team, 13-player transaction the Heat traded away Eddie Jones,
Rasual Butler and
Qyntel Woods and in exchange received former NBA All-Star
Antoine Walker,
Jason Williams, and
James Posey. Miami also signed future Hall of Fame guard Gary Payton, former UCLA star Jason Kapono in addition to first round pick and NCAA All American Wayne Simien. Free agent
Damon Jones opted for a bigger contract offered by the
Cleveland Cavaliers. Critics were quick to debate whether a reformed Heat team would have chemistry issues and whether or not the team was too old (O'Neal, Mourning and Payton were all in their mid-thirties) or had too many underacheivers (Walker had a reputation of miserable shot selection, and Williams, one of turnover-prone playmaking). After an 11 – 10 start and with O'Neal hurt, these critics seemed to be proven right.
Pat Riley became coach of the Heat for the second time on
December 12,
2005, after Van Gundy stepped down due to personal and family reasons. The team went on to win its first three games under Riley until losing to the
Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cleveland loss encouraged the Heat to finish up the month of December strong. They concluded the month with 4 wins and 2 losses. The Heat though were still criticized, however, for being unable to beat the top caliber teams of the NBA. This criticism though would just grow more and more on the Heat come the month of January. Although they finished the month of January with 10 wins and 5 losses, they still could not beat the top tier teams. They suffered a loss to Detroit in late January, and in February were blown out by Phoenix twice, lost to the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, and were decimated by their eventual NBA Finals opponents in Dallas. The months of February and March were very successful for the Heat, including a stretch of 15 wins in 16 games which began with a crucial victory over the Eastern Conference powerhouse Detroit Pistons. Dwyane Wade was electric and Shaquille O'Neal stepped up his game up in a tremendous fashion, helping the Heat resurge and finish with a 52 – 30 record, earning the second seed in the Eastern Conference. In the 2006-2007 season, Shaquille played just a few games for the Heat before going down with an injury. He came back against the Indiana Pacers on January 24, 2007 and has been playing since.
2006 Playoffs
Earning the second seed in the 2006 playoffs, the Miami Heat drew the seventh seed
Chicago Bulls as their first round opponent. The Heat won the first two games of the series at home, despite Udonis Haslem being ejected in the first game and suspended in the second for throwing his mouthpiece in the area of the referee. The team lost games three and four in Chicago, but bounced back to win game five at home. After winning game six in Chicago, the Heat eliminated the Bulls from the playoffs and went on to face the
New Jersey Nets in the second round. The Heat lost Game 1 at home, 100-88, but then swept the Nets out of the playoffs for the second year in a row taking Game 5 at home 106 – 105. The Heat subsequently advanced to their second Eastern
Conference Finals in as many years. The Heat opened up the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals in Detroit by facing the Pistons in a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Finals, in which the top seeded Heat lost Game 7 in a heartbreaker. They immediately stole home court advantage by winning Game 1. Miami lost the second game 92 – 88 after trailing by eighteen at one point, but never surrendered home court advantage. They went home and won both Game 3 (98 – 83) and a decisive Game 4 (89 – 78) at home. The Detroit Pistons then won Game 5 in The
Palace of Auburn Hills 91 – 78, but the Heat answered back, winning game 6 (95 – 78) and with it the series (4 – 2) in Miami.
2006 NBA Finals and Championship
Main articles: 2006 NBA Finals
After defeating the Detroit Pistons, the Heat advanced to their first NBA Finals in franchise history against the
Dallas Mavericks. For the Mavericks, like the Heat, this was also their first NBA Finals appearance.
The Heat were outplayed by the Mavericks in the first two games in Dallas, with the second game being an embarrassing blowout. Things looked worse in Game 3 when the Heat faced a 13-point gap in the last six minutes of the fourth quarter, with Dallas looking to take a commanding 3 – 0 lead in the series. Led by
Dwyane Wade, who single handedly dismantled the Mavericks after falling 0-2 by leading the Heat to a 98-96 comeback in game 3 and after that he never looked back, the Heat were able to make an incredible comeback victory to salvage the series. Similar success came in Game 4, when the Miami Heat once again beat the Mavericks with a combined team effort. The Miami Heat were able to establish their ability to play under pressure in Game 5, which went into overtime. Nevertheless, the heroic effort of Wade with his 43 points, including the game tying basket and clutch overtime free throws, propelled the Heat to within one victory of their first championship in franchise history.
Interestingly, the third consecutive victory at home placed the Heat in the rare company of home teams who have swept the middle three games since the NBA switched to the 2 – 3 – 2 format for the finals in 1985. The only team to have previously accomplished that feat were the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals.
On June 20, Game 6, the Heat took the NBA title in Dallas, winning the series four games to two. In winning the series, the Heat became only the third team in NBA history to win the final series after being down 0 – 2, following the 1969
Boston Celtics and the 1977
Portland Trail Blazers. The Heat overcame a miserable start with a 14-point gap to wear down the Mavericks, and lead by one point (49 – 48) at the half-time buzzer. Again, Wade played a vital role, powering the Heat to a late lead. He was helped by an impressive five blocks by Alonzo Mourning (the Heat had over 10 team blocks in the game even though they were averaging a little over 2 blocks in the series) and clutch shooting by James Posey, who drained a crucial three which put the Heat ahead by six with 3 minutes to go. Surprisingly, the Mavericks were down only three with a few seconds to go after a pair of missed free-throws by
Dwyane Wade. However, Dallas would be put to rest after Wade captured the rebound, fittingly ending the game by tossing the ball in the air after a missed three-point shot attempt by
Jason Terry. Wade would go on to win the
NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.
Shaquille O'Neal, Pat Riley and the Heat meeting the President after their Championship win.
The championship proved all the more poignant for Miami's veteran superstars
Alonzo Mourning,
Gary Payton, and
Antoine Walker who had never before won an NBA championship. Mourning and Payton both re-signed with the Heat for the 2006-07 season, wanting to win another championship.
The championship marked the seventh win for Coach Pat Riley (fifth as a head coach), and fourth title to Shaquille O'Neal, both of whom fulfilled their promise to the citizens of Miami in 1995 (when Riley first came to Miami and said he "envisioned a parade on Biscayne Boulevard") and in July 2004 (when Shaq first came to Miami and vowed to "bring the title home"). Shaq also promised after the win to win the NBA championship again in 2007, if and only if Dwyane Wade were present and healthy for the ride through the playoffs.
2006-07 Season
The Heat got off to a poor start in the 2007 season, losing to the Chicago Bulls by 42 points (66-108), the worst home loss in team history and worst margin of defeat for a defending champion on opening day in NBA history.
Shaquille O'Neal played the first few games for the Heat then missed over thirty games with a right knee injury. Key members of the Heat's championship run last season, particularly Antoine Walker and Gary Payton, were fortunately finding themselves on the bench more often at the expense of the Heat's exciting young duo of
Jason Kapono and
Dorell Wright.
The first half of the Heat's season was full of misfortune. Coach Riley took an indefinite leave,
Dwyane Wade briefly injured his right wrist, and
James Posey and
Antoine Walker were delisted after failing a body mass exam.
Matters improved. Rothstein, the Heat's original head coach, returned on an interim basis. Both Posey and Walker were reinstated. Former Heat star
Eddie Jones re-signed with the team after being released by the
Memphis Grizzlies. O'Neal returned to play in January. Riley resumed his duties as head coach at the start of the second half of the season.
Unfortunately, on February 21, in a game against the Houston Rockets, Wade dislocated his left shoulder and had to leave in a wheelchair. Shortly after the injury, Wade announced that he would opt for rehabilitation instead of surgery, with the hope of returning to the lineup for the playoffs. The rehab was successful enough that Wade returned to the Heat on April 9, 2007, for a game against the Charlotte Bobcats. Wade was visibly rusty, and said that he didn't have his "legs back yet."
After Wade's injury, many predicted the Heat would fail even to make the playoffs. Those predictions were quickly dismissed as the Heat surged, winning 11 out of 14 games at one point. In that time, Miami posted a nine-game winning streak (defeating such teams as the Pistons, Wizards, Bulls and Jazz), in addition to extending a home winning streak to 14.
Shaquille O'Neal was a primary cause for the Heat's resurgence, playing his best basketball of the season and serving as a focal point of the offense. Having a roster chock full of veterans and former All-Stars also had a notable benefit in dealing with the loss of Dwyane Wade. Miami was able to post a 16-7 record without its star guard and, in the process, the Heat were able to win a third consecutive Southeast Division title.
Shortly after Wade returned, Shaquille O' Neal's grandfather had died, causing him to miss two games. Additionally, Udonis Haslem and Gary Payton were bit by the injury bug; Haslem with a groin aggravation and Payton with a calf injury that will sideline him for two to three weeks. The Heat finished the regular season with a 44-38 record and faced the
Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs, to whom they lost 4-0 in the best of seven series. Miami Heat became the first defending champion since 1957 to get swept in the first round in the following season. It was also the first four-game playoff series sweep suffered in Miami Heat history.
Future Outlook
After a disappointing 2006-07 season, the Heat look to move forward. Miami retains the 20th and 39th pick in the 2007 NBA Draft (as a result of sending former coach
Stan Van Gundy to Orlando Magic). On June 28, 2007, the Miami Heat selected Colorado State forward Jason Smith with the 20th overall selection then traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers for the draft rights to 21st overall selection, guard Daequan Cook from Ohio State and cash considerations. With the 39th overall selection, the Miami Heat drafted Stanko Barac, a center from Bosnia, but later traded his rights to the Indiana Pacers for a future second round pick. The Heat lost Jason Kapono to the Toronto Raptors and James Posey to the Boston Celtics. The Heat got a much-needed point guard when they picked up
Smush Parker from free agency and signed him to a 2-year deal and veteran Guard
Penny Hardaway reuniting SHAQ-PENNY duo.
Trivia
★
Dwyane Wade's jersey was the best-selling for 2005 – 2006 season.
[2] [3]
★ For seven games in the
2005 – 06 season, the Heat wore
1971 – 1972 Floridians jerseys as part of the NBA's Hardwood Classics series. Additionally, the Heat dance team also wore the Floridian bikinis and white
go-go boots during these games.
[4]
★ During the
2004 – 05 season, the Heat's roster contained the first three players selected in the
1992 NBA Draft, the first time ever for any NBA team in the case of any draft:
★
★ Shaquille O'Neal (1st overall selection of the
Orlando Magic)
★
★ Alonzo Mourning (2nd overall selection of the
Charlotte Hornets)
★
★ O'Neal and Mourning were also teammates on the Heat's
2005-2006 NBA Championship team, with O'Neal generally starting at center with Mourning as his backup.
★
★ Christian Laettner (3rd overall selection of the
Minnesota Timberwolves)
★ Further, at various points over the 14 years since the
1992 NBA Draft, Miami has had 9 out of the first 12 players selected in that draft on their roster: O'Neal (2004 — present), Mourning (1995 – 2003, 2005- present), Laettner (2004 – 05)
Jim Jackson (2001 – 02),
LaPhonso Ellis (2001 – 03),
Walt Williams (1996),
Todd Day (1997 – 98),
Clarence Weatherspoon (1998 – 2000) and
Harold Miner (1992 – 95).
★ The Heat retired
Michael Jordan's number 23 jersey for his contributions to the NBA, even though he never played for them. When first hung, it was half Wizard blue and half Bull red, however it is now an all red
Chicago Bulls jersey.
★ The Heat also retired number 13 in honor of
Miami Dolphins legend and NFL Hall of Famer
Dan Marino.
★ The Heat became the first team in 50 years to get swept in the first round of the playoffs after winning the championship the previous season.
★ In the year
2006, not only did the Heat win their first ever NBA Championship, but the organization's cheerleading/dance team, the Heat Dancers, were the #1 dance team in the NBA as voted by the NBA fans and one of the Heat Dancers (
Layla El) won the
WWE Diva Search and is currently on the roster of ''
Extreme Championship Wrestling'' as a result. The Heat Dancers repeated the feat in the year
2007, as fans voted them the #1 dance team for the second time in as many years.
★ Former Miami Heat dancer
Trista Rehn (from 2001 to 2003) gained national fame for her roles in
The Bachelor,
The Bachelorette and
Dancing with the Stars.
★ Sometimes the Heat wear retro 'Miami Floridians' black jerseys instead of their traditional white ones at home games.
★ The Heat mascot is named Burnie.
★ During the 2006-07 season, the Miami Heat was the only NBA franchise whose roster consisted solely of American-born players.
Uniforms
Season-by-season records
|-
|colspan="6" align=center bgcolor="#000000" |
'Miami Heat
|-
|1988 – 89 || 15 || 67 || .183 || ||
|-
|1989 – 90 || 18 || 64 || .220 || ||
|-
|1990 – 91 || 24 || 58 || .293 || ||
|-
|1991 – 92 || 38 || 44 || .463 || Lost First Round || Chicago 3, Miami 0
|-
|1992 – 93 || 36 || 46 || .439 || ||
|-
|1993 – 94 || 42 || 40 || .512 || Lost First Round || Atlanta 3, Miami 2
|-
|1994 – 95 || 32 || 50 || .390 || ||
|-
|1995 – 96 || 42 || 40 || .512 || Lost First Round || Chicago 3, Miami 0
|-
|1996 – 97 || 61 || 21 || .744 || Won First Round
Won Conference Semifinals
Lost Conference Finals || Miami 3, Orlando 2
Miami 4, New York 3
Chicago 4, Miami 1
|-
|1997 – 98 || 55 || 27 || .671 || Lost First Round || New York 3, Miami 2
|-
|1998 – 99
★ || 33 || 17 || .660 || Lost First Round || New York 3, Miami 2
|-
|1999 – 2000 || 52 || 30 || .634 || Won First Round
Lost Conference Semifinals || Miami 3, Detroit 0
New York 4, Miami 3
|-
|2000 – 01 || 50 || 32 || .610 || Lost First Round || Charlotte 3, Miami 0
|-
|2001 – 02 || 36 || 46 || .439 || ||
|-
|2002 – 03 || 25 || 57 || .305 || ||
|-
|2003 – 04 || 42 || 40 || .512 || Won First Round
Lost Conference Semifinals || Miami 4, New Orleans 3
Indiana 4, Miami 2
|-
|2004 – 05 || 59 || 23 || .720 || Won First Round
Won Conference Semifinals
Lost Conference Finals || Miami 4, New Jersey 0
Miami 4, Washington 0
Detroit 4, Miami 3
|-
|2005 – 06 || 52 || 30 || .634 || Won First Round
Won Conference Semifinals
Won Conference Finals
' Won NBA Finals' || Miami 4, Chicago 2
Miami 4, New Jersey 1
Miami 4, Detroit 2
' Miami 4, Dallas 2'
|-
|2006-07 || 44 || 38 || .537 || Lost First Round || Chicago 4, Miami 0
|-
|2007-08 || 0 || 0 || .000 || ||
|-
!Totals || 756 || 770 || .495 || ||
|-
!Playoffs || 53 || 53 || .500 || colspan=2 | 1 Championship
Players of note
Coaches
Current roster
Additional players of note
High points
Franchise Leaders
Individual Awards
'NBA Defensive Player of the Year'
★ Alonzo Mourning - 1999, 2000
'NBA Most Improved Player Award'
★ Rony Seikaly - 1990
★ Isaac Austin - 1997
'NBA Finals MVP'
★ Dwyane Wade - 2006
'NBA Coach of the Year
★ Pat Riley - 1997
'All-NBA First Team'
★ Tim Hardaway - 1997
★ Alonzo Mourning - 1999
★ Shaquille O'Neal - 2005, 2006
'All-NBA Second Team'
★ Tim Hardaway - 1998, 1999
★ Alonzo Mourning - 2000
★ Dwyane Wade - 2005, 2006
'All-NBA Third Team'
★ Dwyane Wade - 2007
'NBA All-Defensive First Team'
★ Alonzo Mourning - 1999, 2000
'NBA All-Defensive Second Team'
★ P.J. Brown - 1997, 1999
★ Bruce Bowen - 2001
★ Dwyane Wade - 2005
See also
★ Knicks-Heat rivalry
★ Bulls-Heat rivalry
External links
★ Official website
★ Heat Information
★ HeatMania - because You're Addicted!
★ A blog about the Heat
★ MiamiHeatwave.com Fan site dedicated to the Heat
★ A Wiki dedicated to the Heat
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