NBA

The Miami Heat is an American professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida. The Miami Heat competes in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the league. The Miami Heat plays its home games at the American Airlines Arena, and has won three NBA championships.

The franchise began playing in 1988 as an expansion team, where after a period of mediocrity, the Miami Heat would gain prominence during the 1990s following the appointment of former head coach Pat Riley as team president. Riley would build the high-profile exchanges of Alonzo Mourning in 1995, and Tim Hardaway in 1996, which immediately propelled the team into the playoffs. Mourning and Hardaway would eventually lead the Miami Heat to four division titles, before their departure in 2001 and 2002 respectively. As a result, the team struggled and entered a rebuilding effort in time for the 2002-03 season.

Led by Dwyane Wade, and after an exchange for former NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Shaquille O'Neal, Miami reached the NBA Finals in 2006, where they achieved their first championship, led by Riley as head coach. After O'Neal's departure two years later, the team entered another period of decline for the rest of the 2000's. This saw the resignation of Riley as head coach, who returned to his position as team president, and was replaced by Erik Spoelstra.

In 2010, after creating a significant space at the top of the league, the Miami Heat partnered Wade with former league MVP LeBron James, and perennial All-Star Chris Bosh, creating the "Big Three. During their four years together, and under the tutelage of Spoelstra, James, Wade and Bosh would take the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals in each of those seasons, and they won two consecutive championships in 2012 and 2013. The trio would retire by 2016, and the team entered another rebuilding period. Wade was finally reacquired in 2018, although he retired with the franchise that same year.

The Miami Heat holds the record for the third winning streak in the NBA with 27 consecutive games, set during the 2012-13 season. Four Hall of Fame members have played for Miami (Gary Payton, Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O'Neal and Ray Allen), while LeBron James won the NBA MVP Award while playing for the team.