The committee was torn between Orlando and Tampa, and eventually decided to award a franchise to both cities by adding four instead of three teams. That is how the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic came into being.

The Heat has played their home games in two arenas. Their first home arena was the Miami Arena from 1988 till 1999. Their current arena is the American Airlines Arena. They are owned by Micky Arison and their Head Coach is Pat Riley. The team colors are Red, Black, Orange and White.

The First Few Years

The first Head Coach of the Heat was Ron Rothstein. The team had a rather unproductive few years under him. Initially in the Midwest Division of the Western Conference, they moved to the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in 1989. The team still did not enjoy much success and Rothstein resigned at the end of the 1990 season. Kevin Loughery was hired to take his place. He drafted Steve Smith who along with veteran Glen Rice and Rony Seikaly took the team to their first playoffs in 1991. They lost to the Chicago Bulls.

The Heat returned to the playoffs again in 1993 but lost again to the Atlanta Hawks. Micky Arison took over the Heat in 1995 and immediately fired Loughery. He hired Pat Riley who made several changes as soon as he became Head Coach. He traded players like Matt Geiger and Glen Rice for Alonzo Mourning. He also took on players like Chris Gatling and Tim Hardaway. They reached the playoffs yet again but lost to the Chicago Bulls again. The next year they were successful in winning the Atlantic Division title. They won it again in 1997.

Success In The Later Years

In 2004, the Heat acquired Shaquille O’Neal from the Lakers. The combination of Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade proved to be lethal. Ron Rothstein came back as assistant coach and Alonzo Mourning rejoined the team along with Steve Smith as role players. They reached the Eastern Conference finals which they lost to the Detroit Pistons.

The Heat had their greatest season yet in 2006 when they advanced to the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. This was a first appearance for both the teams. The Heat defeated the Mavericks to claim their first NBA Championship.