The Miami HEAT joined the NBA prior to the 1988-89 season. They were part of the second phase of NBA expansion. The first few seasons found the Miami HEAT in the basement of the NBA, failing to post a season with a winning record. Then things started to turn around beginning with their draft picks. Their first playoff appearance by the Miami HEAT in the 1991-92 season was the first step. Yet the Miami HEAT did not win a playoff series until they defeated the Orlando Magic in the 1996-97 season. The Miami HEAT have seen varying degrees of success in the NBA Playoffs in the last few seasons, with their most recent appearance in the 2004-05 season leaving them one victory away from a first-ever appearance in the NBA Finals. The 2005-06 NBA season follows one of the most successful seasons in Miami HEAT history and at American Airlines Arena. Throughout the seasons the Miami HEAT have seen players come and go throughout the seasons. Tim Hardaway and Glen Rice are just two players in the history of the Miami HEAT that excited fans during their stay in Miami. The Miami HEAT have always drawn fans to American Airlines Arena. Through the Miami HEAT tix exchange and Miami HEAT Tickets Online, fans get their chance to see all the Miami HEAT action LIVE! From tickets to the opening tip off to NBA Finals tickets, you can find it all on Miami Basketball Tickets Online.
Miami HEAT Team History
The Miami HEAT came into the league in 1988, along with the Orlando Magic, Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets. The team had two first round draft picks which it used to select Rony Seikaly from Syracuse and Kevin Edwards from DePaul. As with most expansion teams, the Miami HEAT struggled through a 15-67 initial season and finishing in sixth place in the Atlantic Division.
The Miami HEAT would fail to have a winning record in their first five seasons. In 1989, the Miami HEAT would struggle again, but would achieve success when they would secure the rights to Glenn Rice. Rice became the all-time scoring leader in Big Ten Conference history and lead the Michigan Wolverines to the NCAA Championship. Rice would form the corner stone of what was expected to be a productive offense.
In 1991, the Miami HEAT made a coaching change, bringing in 29-year basketball veteran Kevin Loughery to become the head coach. That season the Miami HEAT made it to the NBA playoffs led by the scoring of guard Steve Smith and the rebounding of Seikaly. Smith proved to be the versatile player the HEAT needed to compliment Rice. Seikaly provided the inside presence with rebounding and defense. The Miami HEAT became the first of their 1988 expansion peers to make the NBA Playoffs. However, the Miami HEAT would wind up meeting Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. The Chicago Bulls swept right through the Miami HEAT in three games on their way to an NBA Championship. In 1992 the Miami HEAT would draft Harold Miner from USC, whose nickname in college was "Baby Jordan" because his style of play and leaping ability reminded many of Michael Jordan. However, injuries would keep the "Air" apparent grounded and limit his career in the NBA.
In 1995, the Miami HEAT hired Pat Riley, who brought 13 years of coaching experience to Miami and a championship record from coaching the Los Angeles Lakers. In all of his years of coaching, he never once failed to make the playoffs. Riley was named head coach and president of the Miami HEAT. Riley made the decision to overhaul the team and bring in his kind of players. His first move as president and head coach was to make a blockbuster trade with the Charlotte Hornets that sent Glenn Rice and others in exchange for Alonzo Mourning and two other players. By the end of the season, Riley acquired many other players, including P.J. Brown, Tim Hardaway, and Jamal Mashburn. This left the team with only one player on the Miami HEAT from his predecessor's team. In 1996, just one year after Riley's arrival, the Miami HEAT earned themselves their best record yet and first place in the Atlantic Division. They won 61 games that season and reached the Eastern Conference Finals, only to be cut down once again by Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. The series featured classic competition and confrontations between Mourning and Chicago Bulls bad boy/intimidator Dennis Rodman.
Following the retirement of Jordan, the Miami HEAT were engaged in a bitter Eastern Conference rivalry with the New York Knicks, who were led by Mourning's mentor Patrick Ewing. The Miami HEAT only defeated the New York Knicks once, in 1997. The Knicks would win their playoff series versus the Miami HEAT in 1998, 1999, and 2000.
In 2000, the team changed venues and moved into a beautiful, state-of-the-art, waterfront AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Florida. Today they remain at AmericanAirlines Arena, but the face of the team is much different. In 2003, Riley stepped down as head coach, paving the way for Stan Van Gundy, whose brother, Mike, coaches the Houston Rockets. Also in 2003, outstanding scorer and rebounder Lamar Odom joined the Miami HEAT, along with Eddie Jones. Though Jones has changed jerseys several times in his career, his numbers have never faltered. Jones averages nearly 17 points per game for his career.
In 2001, the Miami HEAT traded much of their core to the Charlotte Hornets, and lost to them in the first round of the playoffs. This occurred during the same season in which center Mourning sat out much of the season with a kidney disease. The Miami HEAT fortune changed though in the 2003-04 season. The Miami HEAT drafted Dwyane Wade in the 2003 NBA Draft, and that same off-season brought back Odom and signed Rafer Alston. After a 0-7 start, the Miami HEAT found themselves in the 2003-04 NBA Playoffs, where they lost to the Indiana Pacers.
Prior to the 2004-05 season, the Miami HEAT acquired Shaquille O'Neal for Odom, and Brian Grant and Caron Butler in a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Miami HEAT made it to the Eastern Conference Finals where they lost in seven games to the Detroit Pistons.
Learn More about HEAT History at
HEATs offical website
