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Miami Heat
Founded	1988
Arena	American Airlines Arena
Team History	Miami Heat (1988-present)
Team Colors	Red, Black, Flame orange and Yellow
NBA Championships	0
Conference Championships	0
Division Titles	5 (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005)
Owner	Micky Arison
Head Coach	Pat Riley
Mascot	Burnie

The Miami Heat (or the Miami HEAT as the name is officially rendered) are a National Basketball Association team based in Miami, Florida, USA.

Contents 1 Rothstein years 2 Loughery years 3 Riley years 4 Van Gundy years 5 Riley returns 6 Trivia 7 Players of note 7.1 Basketball Hall of Famers: 7.2 Not to be forgotten 7.3 Retired numbers: 8 See also 9 External links

Rothstein years

In 1987, after some influence from Billy Cunningham, the NBA voted to expand itself by adding four new teams. The Miami Heat came into the NBA for the 1988-89 season with an unproductive first year. The team started out the season by losing its first 16 games, an NBA record. The team ultimately finished 15-67 under former Detroit Pistons assistant coach, Ron Rothstein. The Heat picked Glen Rice from the University of Michigan in the 1989 NBA Draft and moved from the Midwest to the Atlantic Division for the 1989-90 season. However, the Heat continued having problems in the NBA and never won more than two games in a row, en route to a 18-64 record.

Loughery years

Rothstein resigned before the 1990-91 season and the Heat picked Kevin Loughery, an NBA coach with 29 years of experience as a player, to be their new coach. For the 1991 NBA Draft, the Heat selected Steve Smith from Michigan State which provided an agile guard to a more matured Miami 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. In 1994-95, the team overhauled their roster, trading away Seikaly, Smith, and Long. In return, the Heat obtained Kevin Willis and Billy Owens.

Riley years

In the 1995 offseason, the Heat hired Pat Riley from the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers and the 1990s New York Knicks to be their new president and coach. Riley was the mastermind behind the blockbuster deal that sent Glen Rice, among others, to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for All-Star center Alonzo Mourning. Riley acquired Tim Hardaway on February 22, 1996. The Heat finished with a winning record with Mourning leading the league in scoring and rebounding but lost in the playoffs in a 3-game sweep against the 72-10 Bulls. The following season, the Heat finished with a franchise-best 61-21 record with new additions, Dan Majerle, Jamal Mashburn, and Voshon Lenard. The Heat were ousted from the playoffs by the Bulls for the second consecutive time, in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The Heat celebrated their 10-year anniversary in the 1997-98 season and captured their second straight Atlantic Division title. However, they lost in the first round against Coach Riley's former team, the New York Knicks. The next year, a lockout-shortened season, provided identical results with the Heat losing to the Knicks.

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. The subsequent season, the Heat missed Mourning for 69 games, due to his diagnosis of a rare kidney disorder. The Heat managed to win 50 games with help from Eddie Jones and emotional leader, Tim Hardaway but lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Van Gundy years

However, the Heat's line-up changed in 2003. Pat Riley stepped down as coach of the Heat to focus more on being team president and promoted assistant coach, Stan Van Gundy to the head coaching position. More changes occurred when the Heat drafted Dwyane Wade in the 2003 NBA Draft, and signed troubled players Lamar Odom and Rafer Alston. Odom revived his NBA career by averaging over 17 points per game. Wade brought energy to the team and broke many rookie NBA records, while being compared to other rookie superstars, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. The Heat found themselves in the 2004 NBA Playoffs, where they lost to the Indiana Pacers.

The Heat acquired Shaquille "Diesel" O'Neal on July 14, 2004 in a historic trade. 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 first coach, became the Heats assistant coach and both Steve Smith and Alonzo Mourning rejoined the Heat. The Heat advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals but lost to the Detroit Pistons in Game 7.

Riley returns

After an 11-10 start and with O'Neal hurt, 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 Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team is currently 4-1 with Riley back as coach.

Trivia

• Dwayne Wade's jersey is the best-selling for 2005. [1]

• For seven games in the 2005-06 season, the Heat will wear 1971-72 Floridians jerseys as part of the NBA's Hardwood Classics series. Additionally, the Heat dance team will also wear the Floridian bikinis and white go-go boots during these games. [2]

Players of note

Basketball Hall of Famers:

Not to be forgotten

• P.J. Brown
• Rex Chapman
• Tim Hardaway
• Eddie Jones
• Dan Majerle
• Jamal Mashburn
• Glen Rice
• Rony Seikaly
• Steve Smith
• Harold Miner

Retired numbers:

• 23 Michael Jordan

Note: The Heat retired number 23 in tribute of Jordan's contributions to the league despite never playing for the club.

Miami Heat Current Roster
Head Coach: Pat Riley				Edit
G/F	49		Shandon Anderson	(Georgia)
C	30		Earl Barron	(Memphis)
C	51		Michael Doleac	(Utah)
G	4		Gerald Fitch	(Kentucky)
F	42		Udonis Haslem	(Florida)
F	24		Jason Kapono	(UCLA)
C	33		Alonzo Mourning	(Georgetown)
C	32		Shaquille O'Neal	(LSU)
PG	20		Gary Payton	(Oregon State)
G	42		James Posey	(Xavier (Ohio))
PF	25		Wayne Simien	(Kansas)
SG	3		Dwyane Wade	(Marquette)
F	8		Antoine Walker	(Kentucky)
PG	55		Jason Williams	(Florida)
F	1		Dorell Wright	(Leuzinger HS, Lawndale, California)
(FA) - Free Agent				Miami Heat

See also

• Knicks-Heat rivalry

External links

• Miami Heat official web site

National Basketball Association (2005–06)
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division: Boston Celtics | New Jersey Nets | New York Knicks | Philadelphia 76ers | Toronto Raptors
Central Division: Chicago Bulls | Cleveland Cavaliers | Detroit Pistons | Indiana Pacers | Milwaukee Bucks
Southeast Division: Atlanta Hawks | Charlotte Bobcats | Miami Heat | Orlando Magic | Washington Wizards
Western Conference
Northwest Division: Denver Nuggets | Minnesota Timberwolves | Portland Trail Blazers | Seattle SuperSonics | Utah Jazz
Pacific Division: Golden State Warriors | Los Angeles Clippers | Los Angeles Lakers | Phoenix Suns | Sacramento Kings
Southwest Division: Dallas Mavericks | Houston Rockets | Memphis Grizzlies | New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets | San Antonio Spurs
Other Articles: NBA Finals | NBA All-Star Game | NBA Draft | Current Team Rosters |

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