NBA – History of Miami Heat franchise, from inception to present day

Florida has a wide variety of professional sports teams within the state.  When it comes to basketball, they have actually produced two teams that are a part of the National Basketball Association but the first to enter the league was the Miami Heat.  The Miami Heat are a professional men's basketball team that play in the Southeast Division of the NBA.  They are in the Eastern Conference and they are based out of Miami, Florida.  The team's head coach, Erik Spoelstra, is rather young but has proven he can lead his team against the best of them.  They are owned by Micky Arison and they play all of their home games at the American Airlines Arena.  The team is managed by Pat Riley, who actually coached in Miami in years past.

The Miami Heat were first formed in 1988 as an expansion team into the NBA.  Their franchise records include making the playoffs 13 out of 21 seasons, winning seven division titles in the Southeast Division, and winning one NBA Finals in 2006.

The Heat would start off with a young roster that included the likes of Ron Seikaly, Pat Cummings, and Scott Hastings.  The next year they would acquire Glen Rice in the draft and would struggle until they finally had a winning season in 1993.  That year they would go 42-40 and make it to the playoffs for the first time.   Other notable players that would play for the Miami Heat over the next few years would include Alonzo Mourning as well as Tim Hardaway.

In the 2000's the Heat started to make some significant changes.  In the 2003 draft they picked Dwayne Wade as the fifth pick overall and it seems to have been one of their best draft picks ever.  Wade has been an All-Star since 2004 and has proven that he is one of the most dominant figures in all of basketball.  He ranks among the top five players in the league with Kobe Bryant and Lebron James.  In 2004 he was given a few key players to help him build his team when the heat acquired Shaquille O'Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers.

In 2005, behind Shaq and Wade, the Miami Heat improved their season record to 59-23 and achieved the second best season record in franchise history.  That year they would go far into the post season before being ousted in the Eastern Conference Finals.  The very next year, in 2006, the Heat would come back with a vengeance and would end up winning the NBA finals against the Dallas Mavericks.  This would be the very first championship in franchise history.  The years following this rise to the top would show a steady decline for the team.  Shaquille O'Neal would be traded away and Dwayne Wade would be plagued with injuries down the stretch.