Miami Heat Kobe Bryant - Shaquille O'Neal Feud, Miami Heat All-Time Roster, Heat-Knicks Rivalry, 1988 Nba Expansion Draft, 2006 Nba Finals, Bulls-Hea

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 38. Chapters: Kobe Bryant - Shaquille O'Neal feud, Miami Heat all-time roster, Heat-Knicks rivalry, 1988 NBA Expansion Draft, 2006 NBA Finals, Bulls-Heat rivalry, Miami Heat draft history, List of Miami Heat broadcasters, List of Miami Heat seasons, Heat-Pistons rivalry, Midwest Division, Atlantic Division, The Heat Is On, Micky Arison, Jorge Sedano, Ted Arison, Eric Reid, Southeast Division, Michael Baiamonte. Excerpt: The Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami. The team is owned by Micky Arison, coached by Erik Spoelstra and managed by Basketball Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley. The Heat were formed in 1988 as an expansion franchise along with the Charlotte Hornets and they along with the Orlando Magic are the only two NBA franchises to represent the state of Florida. Since then, Miami has fielded squads that have made the playoffs 15 out of 23 seasons, captured eight division titles and won the 2006 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks 4-2. According to Forbes Magazine, in 2010 the value of the franchise was $425 million. In Florida, a state devoid of NBA franchises, groups from Orlando, Tampa/St. Petersburg and Miami all vied to land franchises. The Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority eventually endorsed a group led by NBA Hall of Famer Billy Cunningham and former sports agent (and lifelong friend of Cunningham's) Lewis Schaffel, who received their financial backing from Carnival Cruise Lines founder Ted Arison, who would be majority owner. Day-to-day operations would be handled by minority shareholders Cunningham and Schaffel. In April 1987, the NBA expansion committee endorsed...