Most of you must know Miami as a popular tourist destination comprising breath-taking beaches and romantic getaways. However, there is more to Miami as it is the base of one of America’s basketball teams, the Miami Heat. Despite being a member of its South East Division, the Miami Heat plays in the Eastern Conference of the NBA.

During the 1980s, when NBA decided to expand, it diluted 23 teams to form 27 and it was then that Miami Heat came into existence. Charlotte Hornets made its debut with Miami Heat for the 1988-89 season. The trio, which was behind the formation of Miami Heat, comprised of NBA Hall of Fame inductee Billy Cunningham, former sports agent Lewis Schafflel and founder of Carnival Cruise Lines, Ted Arison.

The team initially played as the member of the Western Conference, though they did not belong to the region, geographically. The initial two years after their debut were not very convincing for the team. Much of the energy of the players was lost due to long road journeys to various venues. Glen Rice and Sherman Douglas joined the team in 1989 and the team moved to the Eastern Conference, however, things did not change much for Miami Heat.

It was in the 1991-92 season, that the team’s fortunes seemed to improve when Rothstein, the coach resigned. Steve Smith was included in the team and Kevin Loughery was made the head coach, who guided the team to stand fourth amongst the top five teams in the Atlantic Division. In 1993-94, the team won the tournament and seeded eighth. From the year 1997, the team started wining more matches and appearing in the finals under the coaching of Alvin Gentry.

After a rough phase from 2000 to 2004-5, the team bounced back. The 2005-06 season of the NBA saw some spectacular moments for Miami Heat when they won the title by defeating Dallas Mavericks, the favorites for the title.