nba miami heat

The Miami HEAT came into the NBA for the 1968-88-89 season as part of a two-phase league expansion that also included the Orlando Magic, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the [New Orleans HornetsCharlotte Hornets]]. After spending its first few years in the cellar, the franchise began to make progress thanks to a series of shrewd draft selections. Although the Heat failed to achieve a winning season during their first five campaigns, the team stayed close to the break-even point and made it into the playoffs faster than any of its expansion peers.
The campaign to install an NBA franchise in Miami began in the mid-1980s. The two main movers were Zev Buffman, a producer of stage extravaganzas, and Billy Cunningham, an NBA Hall of Famer and successful head coach. In 1987 the NBA voted to expand by four teams. Charlotte and Miami were admitted for the 1988-89 season after paying an entry fee of $32.5 million apiece, and Orlando and Minnesota came aboard the following year.
Miami's front-office strength lay in the basketball savvy of part-owner Cunningham. After a distinguished college career at the University of North Carolina, he had been a first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia 76ers. He played 11 years with the Sixers and with the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association, was named to the 1966 NBA All-Rookie Team, made four All-NBA squads, and in 1972-73 was named Most Valuable Player in the ABA. In 1977 Cunningham became head coach of the 76ers. During his career he compiled a 454-196 record for a .698 winning percentage. He guided the team to three NBA Finals and an NBA championship in 1982-83 .
The expansion draft wasn't very productive for Miami, but the HEAT did nab Billy Thompson and Jon Sundvold, both of whom gave the young team some stability. Miami fared better in the 1988 NBA Draft. With the ninth selection the HEAT chose Rony Seikaly, a 6-11 center from Syracuse University. Miami used another first-round selection (20th overall) to acquire shooting guard Kevin Edwards of Demons. In the second round the Heat picked Grant Long, a powerful 6-9, 230-pound forward from Eastern Michigan University who later developed into one of the team's most effective players.
Expansion teams are rarely competitive, and the inaugural Miami squad, coached by former Detroit Pistons assistant Ron Rothstein, was no exception. The HEAT finished 15-67, which was not entirely unexpected, but the team took first-year losing to new extremes in the early part of the season.
1988-89: Victory Hard To Come ByThe HEAT lost their first NBA game, 111-91, to the Los Angeles Clippers on November 5 before a Miami Arena sellout crowd of 15,008. The starting lineup was Rory Sparrow, Edwards, Seikaly, Pat Cummings, and Thompson. A minute into the game, Sparrow hit a jump shot to record the first points in HEAT history.
There was nothing unusual about that opening loss-it happens all the time to new teams. But then the club kept losing. It lost at home and away; it lost close games (96-94, to the Sacramento Kings) and blowouts (138-91, to the Los Angeles Lakers). On December 10 the Chicago Bulls hammered the HEAT, 111-88, and put Miami in the all-time record book for the most defeats ever at the start of a season, with 16. The previous mark had been shared by three teams: the Denver Nuggets in 1949 (that franchise folded after one season); the Cleveland Cavaliers, in their expansion season of 1970 ; and Philadelphia in 1972, on its way to the worst won-lost mark in NBA history (9-73).
After 17 consecutive defeats, the team's first victory came on December 14 as Miami squeaked by the Clippers, 89-88. The HEAT struggled through another 10-game losing skid into mid-January. Overall, January was a rough month, with the HEAT chilling to 1-13. February and March brought progress, as the team improved to 9-20 for the two months and delivered some decent performances. On February 20 Kevin Edwards posted the HEAT's highest individual scoring effort of the season when he poured in 34 points against the New Jersey Nets.
Miami had its most productive outing of the year on March 10 with a 131-130 double-overtime victory against Denver. In late March the team put together a modest three-game winning streak, its longest of the campaign, but immediately relapsed into a 2-12 skein to end the schedule. An individual highlight came on April 18 when guard Rory Sparrow posted the first triple-double in HEAT history by scoring 24 points, dishing out 10 assists, and pulling down 10 rebounds in a game against the Dallas Mavericks.
Miami managed only 97.8 points per game, led by Edwards with 13.8 points per contest. Opponents poured in 109.0 points per game. The team MVP was dependable all-around performer Grant Long, who played in all 82 games and averaged 11.9 points and 6.7 rebounds. Edwards was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.