Miami Heat

The Miami Heat joined the National Basketball Association (NBA) as an expansion team during the 1988-89 professional basketball season. The Miami Heat basketball team is located in Miami, Florida. They are one of five teams to play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the NBA.

The Miami Heat history shows that the team set a record in their first season for the most losses to begin a season. In 1991-92, the Miami Heat players qualified for their first playoffs. In 2006 the Miami Heat basketball players won their first NBA Championship. Fans can still buy framed displays of the 2006 Miami Heat Champions with their stats online.

Pat Riley is head coach of the Miami Heat team. Newest additions to the team in the last few years include Dwyane Wade from Marquette, Jerome Beasley from North Dakota, Matt Freije from Vanderbilt, Pape Sow from California State, Dorell Wright, and Wayne Simien from Kansas. In 2006, Dwyane Wade won the NBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Dwyane also won Player of the Week in 2004, 2005 and 2006, and Player of the Month in December 2004 and February 2006.

Shaquille O'Neal, one of the team's most famous players, is also one of the NBA's tallest basketball players.

HEATV on NBA.com takes you into the world of the Miami HEAT basketball team with shows and clips on the players and happenings within the team.

Fans first saw the Miami Heat logo as a basketball of flame falling through a hoop with the team name underneath. The current logo saw a few changes in color, but with a similar design to the first.

The Miami Heat Cheerleaders are known to fans as the HEAT dancers. In 2006 the Miami Heat Dancers were voted the number one dance team in the NBA by fans. In 2007 they once again gained the title.

The NBA Miami Heat online store carries Miami heat hats and caps in the team colors. It also sells Miami Heats jerseys in the team colors of red, black, white and blue with the name and number of fans favorite Miami Heat team players. The NBA website lists where to find Miami Heat tickets and gives information on their play schedule. While there, fans can download free Miami Heat wallpaper to spruce up any computer monitor with players like Shaquille (Shaq) O'Neal, Dwyane Wade, Gary Payton, and, of course, the HEAT dancers.