The Miami Heat entered the league as an expansion NBA franchise in 1988 at the same time as the Minnesota Timberwolves, Charlotte Hornets, and Orlando Magic. Notably, they’re the only of those four franchises to ever win a title, and the second to make an NBA Finals.
Like most expansion teams, the Heat struggled to compete early on, only making it to the playoffs twice during their first 8 years. Then, Pat Riley came along, and, as you may know by now, he turned the franchise around for good.
Riley’s tenure as General Manager helped turn the Heat into one of the prime free-agent destinations and Miami slowly became a competitive team. However, it wasn’t until 2003 when they drafted Dwyane Wade that they became the powerhouse they’re nowadays.
The young shooting guard out of Marquette turned the Heat into a perennial contender and led them to their first-ever NBA Finals and NBA ring. In the following paragraphs, we’llwalk you through every single NBA Finals trip in Miami Heat history.
2006 NBA Finals
Rival: Dallas Mavericks
Result: 4-2 Heat
Finals MVP: Dwyane Wade
Pat Riley took over midseason to replace Stan Van Gundy as the team’s head coach after signing Gary Payton and trading for Antoine Walker, Jason Williams, James Posey to improve an already dominating one-two punch of Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade
The Heat ended up winning 52 games that season and made it to the NBA Finals to face Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. Dwyane Wade averaged 34.7 points to lead a comeback and win 4 straight games after dropping the first 2, winning the first title in franchise history.
2011 NBA Finals
Rivals: Dallas Mavericks
Result: 4-2 Mavericks
Finals MVP: Dirk Nowitzki
It took the Miami Heat a while before they could go back to the ultimate stage. Pat Riley made a couple of huge moves once again, signing LeBron James and Chris Bosh to give Dwyane Wade the help he needed to dominate in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat were the most dominant team in the regular season as expected, winning 58 games and making it to the Finals vs. the Mavericks again. This time, however, the Mavs would complete an amazing underdog story by beating the overpowered Heat in 6 games.
2012 NBA Finals
Rivals: Oklahoma City Thunder
Result: 4-1 Heat
Finals MVP: LeBron James
LeBron James had already lost two times in the NBA Finals and was clearly on a mission since the start of the shortened 2012 NBA season. He led them to 46 wins in 66 games and back to the most important series of the year.
There, the Heat faced an inexperienced and young Oklahoma City Thunder team. Not even Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, and James Harden could contain ‘The Heatles’ and lost in just 5 games, with LeBron James winning his first Finals MVP award.
2013 NBA Finals
Rivals: San Antonio Spurs
Result: 4-3 Heat
Finals MVP: LeBron James
The Miami Heat were on top of the world to start the 2013 season. If their Big 3 wasn’t enough, they also added veteran sharpshooter Ray Allen to provide a much-needed stroke from beyond the arc.
And after winning 66 regular-season games, Allen ended up being the hero in Game 6 of the Finals vs. the San Antonio Spurs, forcing overtime to seal an impressive comeback and later beating them in Game 7 at home.
2014 NBA Finals
Rivals: San Antonio Spurs
Result: 4-1 Spurs
Finals MVP: Kawhi Leonard
Fresh off their back-to-back titles, LeBron James promised that the Heat would win “not one, not two, but seven rings” together and while that was a bold statement, they were close to unbeatable to start the season.
Miami won 54 games and once again made it to the NBA Finals. However, a Spurs team obsessed with revenge got the best of them in 5 games, with Kawhi Leonard putting an end to the Big 3 era and sending LeBron back to Cleveland.
2020 NBA Finals
Rivals: Los Angeles Lakers
At the beginning of the season, most people thought of the Miami Heat as a borderline playoff team that would have a tough time competing. Fast-forward to the bubble and they’re now the only 5th seed in NBA history to make it to the NBA Finals.
Notably, Udonis Haslem has been a part of every single one of the rosters that made the NBA Finals in Miami Heat history, and even though the Los Angeles Lakers are heavily favored, this time has proven to be more than capable of pulling off an upset.
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