Miami Heat: 25 Best Players To Play For The Heat
By Phil Watson
The MiamI Heat already have three championships in their first 28 seasons, more than any modern-era expansion team outside Chicago. Who are their 25 best?
The Miami Heat were the NBA’s first team to play in south Florida, following a failed ABA franchise that was known as both the Miami Floridians and simply The Floridians, yet another one of the regional teams that was never able to establish a fan base.
The Heat were one of two franchises in Florida and three in the southern U.S. to be approved as part of the same expansion, with the Heat and Charlotte Hornets beginning play in 1988 and the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic debuting a year later.
A group that was led publicly by NBA Hall of Famer Billy Cunningham and sports agent Lewis Schaffel was approved to take on the team, with Carnival Cruise Lines founder Ted Arison providing the majority share of the money for the franchise.
The team played at Miami Arena for more than a decade before finding new digs.
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In February 1995, Micky Arison—son of Ted Arison—bought a controlling interest in the team and remains the primary owner.
In 2000, the Heat moved into AmericanAirlines Arena, which remains their home court.
The team won a franchise-record 66 games in 2012-13 and also posted a 61-win season in 1996-97. Miami has a pair of 67-loss campaigns (their expansion season of 1988-89 and again in 2007-08) and lost 64 games in 1989-90.
In 28 seasons, the Heat have an overall record of 1,170-1,078, a .520 winning percentage that ranks ninth among the 30 active NBA franchises.
Miami has already played in five NBA Finals, winning three of them.
The Heat won their first title in 2005-06, topping the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, and won back-to-back championships in 2011-12 and 2012-13, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, respectively.
They lost to the Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals and to the Spurs in a rematch in 2014.
Miami has made the playoffs 19 times in 28 seasons, with two runs of six consecutive appearances from 1996-2001 and 2009-14.
The team returned to the postseason in 2015-16 after a one-year absence, finishing 48-34 and reaching the second round.
The first three seasons in their existence, the Heat missed the playoffs, the longest such stretch in team history.
The Heat have had only four general managers/personnel decision makers. Randy Pfund is the longest-serving, from November 1996 to September 2008.
Schaffel had the job from the franchise’s inception in 1987 to February 1995 and current executive Pat Riley has been in his post since September 2008.
Riley is the only Executive of the Year in team history, sharing the award with Gar Forman of the Chicago Bulls in 2010-11.
Miami has had six coaches. Riley, from 1995-2008, is the winningest. He was 454-395 in the regular season and 34-36 in the playoffs.
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Current coack Erik Spoelstra has a record of 399-241 since 2008 and is 70-43 in the postseason.
Riley is the franchise’s lone Coach of the Year recipient, earning the honor in 1996-97.
The Heat have never had the No. 1 overall pick in the draft and have selected in the top five just four times.
The highest draft choice in franchise history was Michael Beasley of Kansas State, taken second overall in 2008. They have drafted fourth once and fifth twice.
Here are the 25 best players in the history of the Miami Heat. Players had to have appeared in 150 games and averaged a minimum of 20 minutes per game for the team to qualify for this list.
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