Miami Heat Basketball team: a professional basketball team is among the seven teams in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Heat plays in American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, and wears jerseys of red, gold, and white. The history of Miami Heats starts back in 1988, when the Miami Heat was just an expansion team and did not make their mark until long until the team's fortunes changed during the mid 1990's.

With addition of talented players like center Alonzo Mourning and point guard Tim Hardaway to the team, Miami Heat made a strong come back in the NBA standings. With a supporting cast of Jamal Mashburn, Voshon Lenard, and P.J. Brown, the Heat rose to the Eastern Conference Finals in 1997.

The Miami Heat got hold of Shaquille O'Neal for Odom, Brian Grant and Caron Butler via trade with the Los Angeles Lakers and the refurbished team made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost in seven games to the Detroit Pistons.

NBA Miami Heats, over time have developed in to one of the strongest teams on the NBA circuit. With astounding players associated with the stunning team, Miami Heat is among the top-ranked teams in NBA. The Heat made their debut on November 5th losing to the Los Angeles Clippers 111-91 at the Miami Arena and the fans had to wait a while for The Miami Heats first win as they got off to a terrible start, losing a NBA record 17 games in their inaugural season. At last, The Heat got their first win beating the Clippers in LA 89-88 in a nail-biting match. NBA basketball Miami Heat got their first home win 5 games later, when they beat the Utah Jazz 101-80. Joy and celebrations rocked the streets of Miami as the home team, at last, produced something that the fans can be proud of. The fire kept burning in the Heat as it showed improvement despite finishing in last place with a 24-58 record in the next season.

The succeeding year proved very successful for The Heats under new Miami Heat Coach Kevin Loughery as the Heat got their first taste of achievement into the playoffs on the final day of the season by finishing in 4th place with a 38-44 record. The 1993/94 season was led by the scoring of Glen Rice, the shooting of Steve Smith, and the rebounding of Ronny Seikaly that made Heat to improve its position, in their first ever winning season. The 1995/96 season was the year of restructuring of the Heat as they acquired Alonzo Mourning, Pete Myers, and LeRon Ellis from the Charlotte Hornets on the day before the start of the season. However luck was not on their side as they struggled for a long time to get back on track.

The Heat cruised to their second straight Atlantic Division title with a solid 55-27 record in 1997/98 season. The Heat began the new Millennium with a new arena and a new style. In the first game at America Airlines Arena, The Heat started off with a 111-103 win over the Orlando Magic. In their new home, The Heat continued to play strong defensive basketball as Alonzo Mourning won his second straight Defensive Player of the Year award leading the Heat to a 4th straight division title with a solid 52-30 record. In the following injury-hit season, NBA Miami Heat persistently played strong basketball, posting a 42-27 record, and Heat went on to finish in 2nd place with a solid 50-32 record. 2002/03 season was a dreadful year as the Heat finished at last place with an awful record of 25-57. The recent 2004-05 seasons marked a season of reunion for the HEAT, as four former Miami Heat players and coaches rejoined the team for a push for an NBA championship. Ron Rothstein rejoined Miami in September as an assistant coach.

The Miami Heat Basketball team is an excellent blend of old players with fresh talent. A team which comes up to expectations of its million of fans that follow Basketball keenly. With passage of time, the team has improved tremendously and now it has a strong placement in NBA Circuit.

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