Miami Heat

The Miami Heat are a relatively young NBA franchise, but in its time, the Heat was a perennial contender with plenty of titles. The team has featured many superstars like Dwyane Wade and Alonzo Mourning. They are two of the franchise’s biggest players and have led the Heat team stats across many categories.

Thanks to their recent surge in popularity, the Heat can be found with short betting lines on the NBA odds board. Miami has been one of the best-run franchises, so it is rare to see this team performing poorly.

General Information

Conference & Division

• Founded: 1988
• Conference: Eastern
• Division: Southeast

City: Miami, Florida

Stadium: FTX Arena

Championships & Titles

Years:

• 3 NBA Championships
• 6 Conference Championships
• 15 Division Titles

Miami Heat All-Time Records

Most points all-time:

• Dwyane Wade, 21,556

Most rebounds all-time:

• Udonis Haslem, 5,780

Most assists all-time:

• Dwyane Wade, 5,009

Most steals all-time:

• Dwyane Wade, 1,433

Most blocks all-time:

• Alonzo Mourning, 1,625

Most wins all-time (coach):

• Erik Spoelstra, 660

Miami Heat Stats & Team History

As is typical of an expansion team, the Heat struggled mightily in its first few NBA seasons. The team had just one winning season in its first seven years, and it made the playoffs just twice. Its fortune changed in 1995, when Micky Arison purchased the team and promptly brought in the legendary Pat Riley to be both president and coach.

Riley acquired stars Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway, and turned Miami into a legitimate contender. The Heat won 61 games during the 1996-97 season and made the Conference Finals, bowing out to the eventual champions, Chicago.

However, despite Mourning becoming a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, the Heat kept falling short. They were even upset as the number-one seed during the lockout-shortened 1999 NBA Playoffs. Mourning was plagued by injuries, and Miami gradually declined. Riley stepped down as coach, Miami finishing with just 25 wins in 2002-03.

This was a blessing in disguise, since the Heat drafted Dwyane Wade with its fifth pick. Riley restructured the team and brought back Mourning while acquiring three-time Finals MVP, Shaquille O’Neal. By 2005, the Heat were NBA title contenders again. In 2006, Wade led the Heat to its first NBA Championship.

But after most of the core outside Wade departed, Miami once again became a mediocre team. Riley then appointed Erik Spoelstra as coach and the team shocked the NBA by landing both LeBron James and Chris Bosh during the 2010 offseason.

James, who began to lead the Miami Heat’s team stats, combined with Wade and Bosh to form the “Heatles”. This new “superteam” made four consecutive NBA Finals appearances winning two championships in the process.

After James departed in 2014, Miami remained a competitive team, albeit nowhere near a title contender. Wade briefly left the team, only to return and play until 2019. Following his retirement, Miami re-tooled and acquired the likes of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo to form a new contender.

This new Heat team made a surprising run to the NBA Finals during the pandemic-shortened, 2020 season. The team lost against its old star, James and the Lakers. With Riley still overseeing the team, Miami remains one of the NBA’s best franchises.

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