The campaign to begin an NBA franchise in Miami started in the mid-1980’s. In 1987 the NBA voted to add four new teams. A few years later, in the 1988-89 season, paying a \$32.5 million entry fee, the Miami Heat came into the NBA as an expansion team along with Charlotte Hornets.

The Heat originally were part of the Midwest Division, and although the players that the Heat received from the expansion draft weren’t very good, the Heat did grab Billy Thompson and Jon Sundvold, both who made the team more stable. In the 1988 NBA Draft the Heat got the ninth selection and chose Rony Seikaly, a 6-11 center from Syracuse University. Miami used is 20^th overall first-round selection to obtain shooting guard Kevin Edwards of DePaul. In the second round the Heat chose Grant Long, a powerful 6-9, 230-pound forward from Eastern Michigan University who would later become one of the team's most effective players.

As expected the new team wasn’t much competition. They were coached by formet Detroit Pistons asssistant Ron Rothstein, the Heat finished 15-67. xpected the new team was not much competition. Coached by former Detroit Pistons assistant Ron Rothstein, the Heat finished 15-67. 

1988-89: Winning Ain’t Easy

In the first game of their career, the Heat lose Heat lost their first 111-91 in front of a sellout crowd of over 15,000 fans at the Miami Arena at the hands of the L.A. Clippers. Staring for the Heat that night were Rory Sparrow, Edwards, Seikaly, Pat Cummings, and Thompson. A minute into the game, Sparrow hit a jump shot which were the first points in Heat history.

Although a new team losing its first game is usually expected, the Heat continued to lose again and again. It lost at home and away, in close games such as 96-94 to the Sacramento Kings and blowouts such as 138-91 to the L.A. Lakers. They continued on this path until they reached a record-setting NBA worst start at 0-17.

Finally, on December 14, the Heat slipped by the Clippers, 89-88. But the Heat went on to go 1-13 through the end of January. But then in February and March the Heat improved and went 9-20 and had some nice presentaions.

The highlight game of the year came on March 10 when the Heat won in a 131-130 double-overtime victory against Denver. In late March the team managed a three-game winning streak, its longest winning streak ever, but then went 2-12 to finish the season.

Miami averaged 97.8 points per game, led by Edwards with 13.8 points per game, while the Heat’s opponents were scoring 109.0 points per game. The team’s MVP was Grant Long, who was very consistent and played in all 82 games and averaged 11.9 points and 6.7 rebounds. He went on to be named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

1989-90: Good Draft, Bad Season

In the 1989 NBA Draft the Heat chose with the 4^th overall pick Glen Rice, the 6-8, 220-pound forward from the University of Michigan. He was the Big Ten Conference's all-time leading scorer and had led the Wolverines to the NCAA Championship that spring. In the second round the Heat selected Sherman Douglas, a 6-1 guard from Syracuse University.

Miami was transferred from the Midwest to the Atlantic Division in the 1989-90 season. The team enhanced its record slightly, improving three games in the win column to 18-64. The Heat escaped more embarrassment by avoiding the worst Atlantic Division record with a one game lead over New Jersey. Similar to the first season the Heat went through bad losing skids such as 9 games in November and December, 13 games in December and January, and another 9 games in March and April. The Heat did not win more than two games in a row.

A few small highlights that season included the biggest blowout win ever with a 126-91 win over the L.A. Clippers on February 2. On Feb. 13 Rony Seikaly scored 40 points against Chicago. Seikaly was selected as the NBA's Most Improved Player that season. He began giving some lessons that year and as a result his overall perfomance improved noticably. He went from 10.9 to 16.6 points per game and went from 7.0 to 10.4 rebounds per game.

In the 1990-1991 season the Heat continued to improve their record but they still ended up in last place in the Atlantic Division at 24-58. Miami got off to a pretty decent start at 5-9, but then went on a 10-game losing streak and did not recover from that. The Heat went 19-39 to finish off the season.

Douglas led Miami with 18.5 points and 8.5 assists per game and gave the Heat solid floor leadership throughout the year. Glen Rice started ro reveal his scoring ability, scoring 17.4 points per game, and Seikaly continued with 16.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.

After the season Ron Rothstein quit as coach and was replaced by Kevin Loughery, who brought 29 years of NBA experience to Miami. Loughery’s career began in 1962, when he was drafted by the Detroit Pistons. Traded to Baltimore, he spent eight years with the Bullets before completing his playing career in Philadelphia. He averaged 15.3 points in 11 years as an NBA player.

1991-92: Heat Makes It To Playoffs

In the 1991 NBA Draft the Heat chose guard Steve Smith from Michigan State. The young and now talented Heat team became more competitive in 1991-92, and improved its record by 14 games to finish 38-44. Miami moved up to fourth place in the Atlantic Division and for the first time, made the playoffs.

During the regular season the Heat got off to an 8-7 start, which was the best since they started. In January, Miami made the only major trade in its history when they sent Sherman Douglas to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Brian Shaw. Shaw, a 6-6 guard, was a gifted defender and capable outside shooter who had averaged 7.6 assists for the Celtics in 1990-91. In Miami, Shaw joined the 6-8 Smith to form one of the tallest backcourts in the league.

In the second half of the season Glen Rice surfaced as the team's top scoring threat. On April 11 Rice set a new Miami single-game scoring record with 46 points against the Magic. He also two 33+ point games that week, and was named the NBA Player of the Month for April.

The Heat was near .500 for most of the year. Miami for the first time had a decent 28-13 home record, but suffered on the road at 10-31. Although the Heat’s record was below average, an Atlanta loss gave Miami a last minute playoff entrance in the 8^th and final Eastern spot. Miami was the first of the four late-1980s expansion teams to reach the postseason.

Just as soon as the Heat were in the playoffs, they were out again. There was no way the Heat could beat Michael Jordan and the Bulls, who were 67-15 in the regular season. As expected the Heat were easily swept in three games. The Heat were not overly disappointed and the team were optimistic for the next season.

1992-1993: Heat Slips Slightly

For the first time in the 1992-93 season the Heat did not improve and slipped a couple of games to a 36-46 finish. They moved back down a little to fifth place in the Atlantic Division. The team started started off slow, at 13-27 through January. The Heat also struggled with Steve Smith missing the first 34 games due to having arthroscopic surgery on his knee. He came back in January, but then Willie Burton injured his wrist. Burton played 26 games and then was out for the season.

When Smith returned the team improved and had winning months in February and March. They even had a six-game winning streak but then in April things fell apart. A few highlights that season came when Rony Seikaly grabbed a huge 34 rebounds against Washington, and Brian Shaw set an NBA record when nailed 10 three-pointers against the Milwaukee Bucks, breaking the previous mark of 9.

Although the team was becoming more consistent, there were still good times and bad times. In March, Miami won all seven of its home games, but the Heat finished the year by losing five of its last five games in mid-April.

1993-1994: First Season Above .500

In the 1993-1994 season the Heat improved slightly and for the first time finished above .500 at 42-40 and for the second time slipped into the playoffs at the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. Miami faced the No. 1 seeded Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs.

1994-95: Roster Change Hurts Heat

The Miami Heat made big roster changes early in the 1994-95 season, trading away Rony Seikaly, Steve Smith, and Grant Long and getting Billy Owens and Kevin Willis. Changes were also made in management. On February 13 the Arison family purchased 88% of the Heat ownership. Micky Arison was named the club's managing general partner. The following day the Heat named Dave Wohl executive vice president of basketball operations and replaced Coach Kevin Loughery with Alvin Gentry. Loughery accepted a position in the Heat front office. The result was a 32-50 season, a noticeable deterioration from the previous season.

Willis and Glen Rice were among the league's highest-scoring duos early in the campaign, but Willis was injured. He set a franchise scoring record with 56 points against the Orlando Magic on April 15, which was also the NBA’s highest individual point total in a single game all year. Glen Rice won the NBA Long Distance Shootout at All-Star Weekend.

1995-96: New Coach Makes Heat a Playoff Contendor

In the time before the 1995 season began the Heat made some major changes. First, Miami hired Pat Riley as the new team president and head coach. Riley, who had never coached a team that failed to make the playoffs, started in Miami in hir 14^th year of coaching.

On November 3, the day before the season began, Riley organized a big trade that sent Glen Rice, Matt Geiger and Khalid Reeves to Charlotte in exchange for Pete Myers, LeRon Ellis and All-Star Center Alonzo Mourning. Riley, who built the Lakers around Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Knicks around Patrick Ewing, now had another franchise center around which to build.

But that wasn’t all that Riley had in mind for the Heat. On Feb. 22, just before the trading deadline, the Heat gained Tim Hardaway, Chris Gatling, Walt Williams, Tyrone Corbin and Tony Smith. By the end of the season only Keith Askins remained as the only player who wasn’t traded away. The Heat used 22 players during ths season and finishes at 42-40 record, which was equal to thier best season in Heat history.

Mourning lead the way and became the first Heat player to score 50 points in a game (3/29/96) and finished the season as the first Miami player to lead the league in scoring (23.2 ppg) and rebounding (10.4 rpg). Hardaway finished the season 8th in the NBA in assists .

After all the work that season Miami was punished with a quick sweep from the 72-10 Chicago Bulls.

The 1996-97 Miami Heat improved tremendously and were the NBA's most improved team. The Heat finished with a franchise-best 61-21 record and had the third longest road winning streak in NBA history (14 games) and captured their first Atlantic Division title.

Coach Pat Riley led a team to win his 13th division title in 15 seasons. Tim Hardaway came in at 4^th place in the race for the Most Valuable Player. He led the Heat with 20.3 ppg and 8.6 assists per game. He was among the league's leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.02-to-1). Alonzo Mourning's success inside went very well with Hardaway's shooting and playmaking. Mourning averaged 19.8 ppg and 9.9 rpg and was fourth in the NBA with 2.86 blocks per game.

Other key players for Miami included Voshon Lenard, who became one of the NBA’s top three-point shooters, Dan Majerle and backup center Isaac Austin, who was named the league Most Improved Player. Jamal Mashburn was another scoring threat to help reduce the work for Hardaway and Mourning, and P.J. Brown added another big presence and rebounding threat, which helped the Heat a lot during playoff matchups that went the limit against the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks.

1997-1998: Decade of Heat

The Heat franchise celebrated its 10-year anniversary but Miami had to face the weight of high expectations. With an solid team core of NBA veterans, one of the best coaches of all time and no giving up, Miami did well with 55 wins although they did not do as good as they did in the previous season. But it was enought for the Heat to win their second straight Atlantic Division title.

The season started without Alonzo Mourning, who was out because of offseason knee surgery. Mourning missed the first 22 games of the season, but the Heat managed a 15-7 start in his absence. Once he was back, he came back in full force with 19.3 ppg, 9.6 rpg and 2.24 bpg. He came in at third in the league in field goal percentage at .551.

Mid-way through the season the Heat got rid of Isaac Austin. He was sent to the Clippers along with Charles Smith and the Heat’s next season’s first-round draft pick for swingman Brent Barry. This was not very beneficial, because Brent Barry stunk.

Although the Heat had traded Austin and Jamal Mashburn was out for two months with a broken thumb, the Heat somehow pulled through and went 20-4 after the trade due to the improved performance from Mourning, P.J. Brown and Voshon Lenard.

Miami's emotional leader was once again guard Tim Hardaway, who led the Heat in assists at 8.3 apg (6th in the NBA) and averaged 18.9 ppg, earning his fifth All-Star selection.

As the playoffs came around once again the Heat would face New York this time in the first round. The rivalry was huge and it seemed as though a fight could explode in any game at any time. Voshon Lenard had a great effort in the first two games, scoring 25 and 28 points - but the Heat managed only a split at home. The teams also split a pair of games at Madison Square Garden, but a fight in the closing seconds of Game 4 proved lethal for the Heat. Mourning and New York's Larry Johnson broke out in a fight, resulting in the suspension of both players for game 5. Miami lost the game, 98-81.

The 98-99 season was the year of the lockout. It took until February for an agreement to be made and to end it. With only about three months to play, it was decided that teams would play 50 games. This meant many back-to-back games and a few back-to-back-to-back games. The Heat did well though and finished 33-17 winning their third straight Atlantic Division title.

As playoff time came it was known that the Heat would be facing the Knicks again in the first round. True Heat fans were not happy about this, but there was no way out. Miami would have home court advantage, which is ok but not a big deal when facing New York.

As the Heat faced the Knicks again we split the first two games at home. With the series tied 1-1 we were set to play games 3 and 4 in New York. Then the lost game three and were down 2-1. All the Knicks fans said it was over but true Heat fans knew we would come back. Of course in the crucial game 4 Miami was able to even the series at 2-2 and bring the final game home to Miami.

Game 5 was close and a nail-biter. During the closing minutes everyone knew it could go either way. With the Heat up by one and only seconds left Tim Hardaway had the ball. Suddenly he lost control and every Heat fan’s nightmare had come true. So the Knicks had the ball. After the time out they needed a score to win. With only a couple of seconds left we thought the Heat would win. But then with 0.8 seconds left Allan Houston nailed the game winner to win 78-77. Every Heat fan was in disbelief. But this year we will NOT lose to the Knicks again!

After two straight years of losing to the New York Knicks, Heat fans thought this year would be different. The Heat began the season with a record of 6-1. The Heat had many good wins, defeating all the playoff teams, except for the Lakers, and the Heat did have an 11-point halftime lead in that game. Miami even won the season series with the New York Knicks, thanks to a miracle three-pointer by Tim Hardaway.

During the year Miami’s new rookie point guard, Anthony Carter, filled in for the injured Tim Hardaway. He averaged 6.3 points per game and 4.8 assists per game. The Heat finished their season 52-30, after, as usual, losing the last game of the season. During the playoffs, Carter increased a bit, averaging 7.7 ppg and 5.6 assists per game.

The Heat, although they won some good games, continued to lose to the likes of Chicago and Vancouver, and really ruined a good chance to have one of the top 2 records in the league. The Heat faced Detroit in round one of the playoffs. Of course we would have won the series, but an injured Grant Hill allowed the Heat to sweep the Pistons. As the Heat had some time off, New York went on to sweep the Raptors. So, once again, the Heat-Knicks match would happen again, this time, in round 2.

The Heat started the playoffs well, leading 1-0 vs. New York with game 2 in Miami. As anyone could have predicted, Miami lost. The Heat continued this pattern and lead the series at 3-2. The Heat totally gave away game 6 after leading at halftime by 15 points. Then, in game 7, Miami blew their 4^th quarter lead and had the final shot of the game. Somehow Clarence Weatherspoon got the shot and missed...sending Heat fans home feeling shocked, disappointed, but somehow it wasn’t as bad as last year...it was almost expected, the typical pattern. Next season, with our new additions, there will be no game 7.

There will be no game 7 is right...not even a game 4. Miami made various trades during the offseason, getting Brian grant, Anthony Mason and Eddie Jones while trading away P.J. Brown and Jamal Mashburn. It looked like Miami was going all the way...but hopes faded before the season even started, when Alonzo Mourning was diagnosed with a kidney disease - focal glomerulosclerosis - which would sideline him for the entire season.

The Heat team struggled for a while with PF Grant playing as center, and 6'8 Mason playing as a power forward. Eddie Jones did not come up as big overall as expected, but averaged 18.1 ppg most of the year and finished with 17.4 at the end. The Heat were 6-10 at one point and began to gel together from there, reaching a record ot 18-15 before they finally broke away to clinch the #3 seed in the East with a record of 50-32.

As the season was winding down, Eddie Jones dislocated his shoulder. He missed 15 games but Alonzo Mourning returned in late March, to the amazement of many. It seemed like someone would always be injured right when someone else came back. The planned starting team for the season was Tim Hardaway, Eddie Jones, Anthony Mason, Brian Grant and Alonzo Mourning. That 750 lb. frontcourt was nicknamed the "Jumbo frontcourt". Unfortunately, due to injuries and decisions by Pat Riley, the starting five did not play for months, days or hours together - it was a matter of only seconds during a 6-month period.

The playoffs had arrived. Miami would be facing the Charlotte Hornets in round one. Eddie Jones and Mourning were improving quickly - but mysteriously Anthony Mason, who looked injury-resistant, had a twisted ankle out of nowhere. And Tim Hardaway, who played almost all season, suddenly was fatally wounded with foot and knee injuries. Hardaway would only score a grand total of 5 points during the first two games, and did not even play in game 3.

Rookie Eddie House, who quickly became a fan favorite, finally got minutes in the playoffs due to the fact he was the only non-injured point guard left on the Heat squad. He led the NBA playoff rookies in scoring at 12.7 ppg. Pat Riley's daughter wore a t-shirt with the initials F.E.H., which stood for "Free Eddie House" - a phrase that spread like wildfire among Heat fans. Anthony Mason and Mourning struggled horribly in the playoffs, and Miami had no way to match Charlotte's speed, endurance or perimeter shooting. Miami was blown away by an average of almost 17 points per game. The phrase was once again repeated: "Maybe Next Year".