The Miami Heat is a professional basketball team playing under the National Basketball Association (NBA). They are the members of the Southeast division of the Eastern conference. The team was founded in the year 1987 but played their first game in 1988. The team is based in Miami, Florida, United States. Currently the owner of the team is Micky Arison and Erik Spoelstra is the head coach.

Miami Heat along with three other teams the Charlotte Hornets, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Orlando Magic debuted in the 1989-90 season. Ronny Rothstein was the first head coach of the team.

The Heat started off the season by loosing its first 17 games, an NBA record. At the end of the season the team finished with 15-67 win-loss record. In the 1997-98 season the team was successful to achieve their second Atlantic division title.

In the year 2004 the Heat acquired superstar center Shaquille O'Neal on July 14, in a historic trade with the Los Angeles Lakers in which Miami traded Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant to the west. Dwyane Wade and O'Neal worked well as a pair and each solidified their position as NBA elites with both averaging over 20 points per game. The season also reunited several former club members. Ron Rothstein, the Heat's inaugural head coach, became an assistant coach and both Steve Smith and Alonzo Mourning rejoined the team to play a important role in supporting the team.

They finished the season with a 59-23 record. It was Heat’s second best record in franchise history. With the likes O’Neal the team was seeded first at the playoffs of the Eastern Conference. They played against the Detroit pistons in the finals where they lost in a decider in game 7.

In the year 2006 the Miami Heat defeated the defending champions Detroit Pistons and went on to play the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA finals. The Heat were outplayed by the Mavericks in the first two games in Dallas, with the second game being an embarrassing blowout. Things looked worse in Game 3 when the Heat faced a 13-point gap in the last six minutes of the fourth quarter, with Dallas looking to take a 3–0 lead in the series. Led by Dwyane Wade, who single handedly dismantled the Mavericks after falling 0-2 by leading the Heat to a 98-96 comeback in game 3 and after that he never looked back, the Heat were able to make an incredible comeback victory. Similar success came in Game 4, when the Miami Heat once again beat the Mavericks with a combined team effort. The Miami

Heat were able to establish their ability to play under pressure in Game 5, which went into overtime. Nevertheless, the effort of Wade with his 43 points, including the game tying basket and clutch overtime free throws, helped the team win their first ever NBA championship.

The American Airlines Arena is the place where the Miami Heat plays all their home games. The arena has a maximum capacity of 19,600. Known players like Shaquille O’Neal, Shawn Marion, Marcus Bank and the outstanding Dywane Wade have all been a part of the team.

In the current 2007-08 season O’Neal was traded to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion. It was one of the most disappointing seasons of any team in the NBA history. The Heat won only 15 games in the entire season.

Major achievements
7 Division titles
1 Conference title (2006)
1 NBA championship title (2006)