The Miami Heat, a professional basketball based in Miami, Florida, United States of America, is one of the seven teams in the Atlantic of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Heat showcases their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami. They wear jerseys of red, gold and black.
Miami played home to an ABA team known to as Floridians back then before they entered NBA. They played their first game in November 5, 1988 losing to the LA Clippers, 111-91, at the Miami Arena. They had a really freezing start setting an NBA record for the most losses (17 games) to their debut season. But the Miami fans celebrated in December 14 when the Heat got their very first win beating Clippers in LA, 89-88. This ugly start led their way to a productive start, selecting both Michigan stars Glenn Rice and Syracuse Sherman Douglas in 1989 NBA Draft. But still, they ended up having an 18-64 record finishing in fifth place in the Atlantic Division.
Under a new coach Kevin Lounghery in 1991, the Heat get their first taste of success as they registered a 38-44 record, qualifying for its first playoff appearance with Glenn Rice leading the way with 22.3 ppg. However, they were overwhelmed by the Chicago Bulls in the first round in three straight games. In 1993, the much improved Heat continued to soar high posting their first ever winning season as they finished in fourth place with a 42-40 record, to edge out the Charlotte Hornets. However, the Hawks defeated the Heat, taking the series in five games. Improving on each year, fans decide to purchase more Heat tickets to support their team to victory.
In 1995, Coach Pat Riley reconstructed the team as the Heat acquired Alonzo Mourning, Pete Myers and LeRon Ellis from the Hornets before the start of the season for Glenn Rice, Matt Geiger and Khalid Reeves. Tim Hardaway also helped the team as he achieved his career season hitting several clutch shots while leading the team in scoring with 20.3 ppg in 1996. Alonzo Mourning suffered a knee surgery in 1997 which led to his absence in the first 22 games of the season. He still made it at midseason bringing the Heat a cruise to their second straight Atlantic Division title with a solid 55-27 record.
In 1998, Alonzo Mourning achieved his career year as he led the team to their third Division title at the same time winning Defensive Player of the year but in 2000, he suffered a kidney disorder after returning home from the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Pat Riley, on the other hand, became the second coach to win 1000 games — really a milestone.
But, in 2003, Pat Riley gave his position to his assistant Stan Van Gundy as the coach. This is the same year when Dwayne Wade joined the team. The Heat became an unstoppable team when they acquired Shaquille O’Neal in 2005 which immediately elevated the team to elite status. The Shaq-Wade duo along with the veteran Alonzo Mourning led the Heat to win their NBA Championship against Dallas in 2006 making Wade the NBA Finals MVP.
In 2008, the Miami celebrated their 20th anniversary but suffered a severe downfall equal to their first year in 1988 having a disappointing 15-67 record. But under new coach Erik Spoelstra, the team were determined to regain their status. In 2010, the biggest deal in NBA history happened when LeBron James from Cleveland and Chris Bosh from Raptors joined Wade in Miami. They are now considered as the “Big Three”. They reached the 2011 NBA Finals but was defeated by Dallas in six games.
