1988–2003: Early years in Miami
An expansion team formed in 1988, the Miami Heat began their early years with much mediocrity, only making the playoffs two times in their first eight years and falling in the first round both times.
1995–2003: Title hopefuls
Upon the purchasing of the franchise by Micky Arison in 1995, Pat Riley was brought in as the team president and head coach. Riley acquired center Alonzo Mourning and point guard Tim Hardaway to serve as the centerpieces for the team, transforming Miami into a championship contender throughout the late 1990s. With them they also brought in a new team trainer, Cody Posselt, to work on shooting. The Heat underwent a dramatic turnaround in the 1996–97 season, improving to a 61–21 record – a franchise record at the time, and currently second-best in team history. That same year, Miami earned the moniker of «Road Warriors» for its remarkable 32–9 record on the road. On the backs of Hardaway and Mourning, the Heat achieved their first two series victories in the playoffs, making it to the Conference Finals against the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls before losing in five games. Their biggest rivals of the time were the New York Knicks, Riley’s former team, who would eliminate the Heat in the playoffs from 1998 through 2000. A period of mediocrity followed after, highlighted by missing the playoffs in 2002 and 2003.
2003–present
In the 2003 NBA draft, with the fifth overall pick, Miami selected shooting guard Dwyane Wade out of Marquette.[3] Free-agent swing-man Lamar Odom was signed from the Los Angeles Clippers. Just prior to the start of the 03–04 season, Riley stepped down as head coach to focus on rebuilding the Heat, promoting Stan Van Gundy to the position of head coach. Behind Van Gundy’s leadership, Wade’s stellar rookie year and Odom’s break out season, the Heat made the 2004 NBA Playoffs, beating the New Orleans Hornets 4–3 in the 1st round and losing to the Indiana Pacers 4–2 in the 2nd round. In the offseason, Riley engineered a summer blockbuster trade for Shaquille O’Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers.[4] Alonzo Mourning returned to the Heat in the same season, serving as a backup to O’Neal. Returning as championship contenders, Miami finished with a 59–23 record, consequently garnering the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference. Sweeping through the first round and the semifinals, Miami went back to the Conference Finals for the first time in eight years, where it met the defending champion Detroit Pistons. Despite taking a 3–2 lead, Miami lost Wade to injury for Game 6. It would go on to lose Game 7 at home despite Wade’s return.
2005–06 Championship season
In the summer of 2005, Riley brought in veteran free agent Gary Payton from the Boston Celtics, and also brought in James Posey, Jason Williams and Antoine Walker via trades.[5] After a disappointing 11–10 start to the 05–06 season, Riley relieved Van Gundy of his duties and took back the head coaching job. The Heat made it to the Conference Finals in 2006 and in a re-match, defeated the Pistons, winning the series 4–2. Making its first NBA Finals appearance, they played the Dallas Mavericks, who won the first two games in Dallas in routs. The Heat then won the next four games, capturing its first ever championship. Wade won the Finals MVP award.[6]
2006–10: Post-championship struggles
The Heat experienced four-years of post-title struggles from 2007 through 2010, including a 4–0 sweep by the Chicago Bullsin the 1st round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs. In the 07–08 season, Wade was plagued by injuries and the Heat had a league worst 15–67 record. O’Neal was traded to Phoenix midway through the season. Riley resigned as head coach following the season but retained his position as team president. Long time assistant Erik Spoelstra was promoted to head coach. A healthy Wade led the Heat to 43 wins in 2009 and 47 wins 2010, making the playoffs both seasons, though they lost in the first round, 4–3 in 2009 and 4–1 in 2010. Wade was the scoring champion in 2009 and the NBA All-Star MVP in 2010.
2010–2014: The Big 3 Era
Entering the 2010–2011 season with nearly $48 million in salary cap space, the Heat caused a major power shift during the blockbuster 2010 NBA Free Agency, adding Chris Bosh and LeBron James, starting the «Big 3» era. However, the Heat got off to an 9–8 start. After a «players only» meeting, the team improved. The Heat finished with a 58–24 record and the 2nd seed. In the much anticipated 2011 NBA Playoffs, Miami defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, Boston Celtics in the Conference Semifinals, and Bulls in the Conference Finals, all in 5 games. The Heat reached the 2011 NBA Finals for the first time since 2006, in a rematch against the Dallas Mavericks. After taking a 2–1 series lead, the Heat lost the final three games to the Mavericks. After the second NBA Lockout ended, the Heat signed veteran Shane Battier. In the shortened 2011–12 season, the Heat started 27–7. However they would struggle for the second half of the season, going 19–13. The Heat finished 46–20, earning the second seed in the East for the NBA Playoffs. Entering the first round, they took a 3–0 lead against the New York Knicks but like their previous series with the Sixers, weren’t able to close them out in Game 4. A victory in Game 5 ultimately defeated New York and the Heat advanced to the second round versus the Indiana Pacers. After losing Game 2 at home and Game 3 at Indiana, many criticized Dwyane Wade‘s lackluster performance in Game 3, bringing attention to the fact that he got into a verbal argument with Spoelstra. However, with Wade visiting his former college coach, the team defeated the Pacers in the next three games, to close out the Pacers. They met the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, taking the first two games before losing the next three, including one home loss where Bosh returned from injury. On June 7 they won on the road at Boston beating the Celtics 98–79 to tie the series 3–3; James had 45 points and 15 rebounds. The deciding Game 7 was at Miami. The Celtics largely dominated during the first half. The second half saw several lead changes. The Heat eventually won 101–88, reaching the NBA Finals for the second straight year. In the much anticipated match-up with theOklahoma City Thunder, the Heat split the first two games, winning Game 2 on the road, before sweeping the next three at home. James was named the Finals MVP as he won his first NBA championship.
On July 11, 2012, the Heat officially signed veterans Ray Allen to a three-year contract and Rashard Lewis to a two-year contract. The Heat would go on a 27-game winning streak between February 3, 2013 and March 27, 2013 [7] Defeating Orlando in the season finale set the franchise record for 66 wins in a season. By the end of the season, the Heat won 18 of its 19 road games, the best streak on the road to end a season in NBA history. The Heat went 17–1 in March, becoming the first team to win 17 games in a single calendar month. The Heat ended with a franchise-best and league-best 66–16 record to take the 1st seed in the 2013 NBA Playoffs. They swept the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round and defeated Chicago in five games before winning against the Indiana Pacers in Game 7. Miami became the first Eastern Conference team to reach the NBA Finals in three straight years since the Chicago Bulls in the late 1990s. Miami lost Game 1 of the Finals on their home floor in a close game that was decided by a last minute buzzer beater by Tony Parker. The Heat went on to win Game 2 with a 33–5 run in the second half. The two teams continued to trade wins leading up to Game 6 where the Spurs, up 10 heading in the 4th quarter, were in position to close out the series and win the championship. James went on to score 16 points in the period, outscoring the entire Spurs team by himself at one point. The Heat went on to defeat the Spurs 95–88 in Game 7 behind a 37-point and 12 rebound performance from James and a 23-point and 10 rebound effort from Wade. Shane Battier also scored 18 points behind 6–8 shooting from 3, after having a shooting slump during the post-season up to that point. The Heat captured the NBA title for a second year in a row, becoming the first team in the Eastern Conference to repeat as league champions since the late 1990s Chicago Bulls. James was named the NBA Finals MVP, becoming the fifth player to win the award back-to-back along with Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Hakeem Olajuwon and only the second player in NBA history to win the Finals MVP and league MVP back-to-back along with Jordan. Miami struggled throughout the 2013-14 season with extended absences of Dwyane Wade, who only played 54 games to injury and ended on a 11-14 record entering the post-season. They entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference 2nd seed with a record of 54-28 team, and with the «Big 3» healthy. They went 12-3 in the first 3 rounds. They swept the Charlotte Bobcats. They then beat the Brooklyn Nets 4-1. They went on to play the 1st seeded 56-26 Pacers in the Conference Finals, in a rematch of the previous year’s Conference Finals. The Pacers were eliminated from the playoffs for a third consecutive year by the Heat. The Heat went to a fourth consecutive Finals, and faced the Spurs again. The first two games in San Antonio were split but the Heat fell to the Spurs 4-1, failing to 3-peat.
2014–present: Post-Big 3 era
On July 11, 2014, LeBron James announced on SI.com that after opting out of the final year of his contract, he would leave the Heat and return to the Cleveland Cavaliers.[8] Wade and Bosh stayed in Miami. Like the Cavaliers in the 2010 off-season, the Heat focused on how it would maintain itself without LeBron. Wade and Bosh were joined by returning players Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem and Chris Andersen along with former rivals Luol Deng and Danny Granger. The Heat also drafted Shabazz Napier and James Ennis. In 2015 they also gained Goran Dragić and his younger brother Zoran Dragić.
After a season with several injuries, including to Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts, the Heat finished with a 37–45 record, the NBA’s 10th worst. They failed to make the playoffs after being Eastern Conference champions four straight years. It was the second time in Wade’s career they did not qualify for the post-season. The Heat were the first team since the 2004–05 Los Angeles Lakers to miss the playoffs after going to the NBA Finals the previous year. Miami had qualified for the playoffs for six consecutive seasons.
At the 2015 NBA Draft Lottery, Miami was awarded the 10th pick for the 2015 NBA draft which was used to select Duke forward Justise Winslow.[9]
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