1988–89 Miami Heat season


The 1988–89 Miami Heat season was Miami's inaugural season in the NBA. The Miami Heat were the first of two expansion teams to play in the state of Florida over a two-year period. The expansion included three other franchises in Charlotte, Minnesota, and Orlando. The Heat were able to select Syracuse star center Rony Seikaly in the NBA draft. The Heat made their debut on November 5 in a losing effort to the Los Angeles Clippers by a score of 111-91 at the Miami Arena. Rory Sparrow made the first basket in franchise history. The Heat lost an NBA record 17 games to start their inaugural season.
On December 14, they won their first game of the season by beating the Clippers in Los Angeles by a score of 89-88. Five games later, the Heat won their first game ever at home when they beat the Utah Jazz, 101-80. The Heat finish their first season with a 15-67 record. The club's leading scorer was Kevin Edwards, who averaged 13.8 points per game.
Despite their location, the NBA placed the Heat in the Midwest Division of the Western Conference. This meant that Heat were forced on some of the longest and farthest road trips in the NBA in 1988-89 as their closest divisional opponent was the Houston Rockets which were located over 950 miles away.

Offseason

Expansion Draft

Draft picks

RoundPickPlayerPositionNationalitySchool/Club Team
19Rony SeikalyCSyracuse
120Kevin EdwardsSGUnited StatesDePaul
233Grant LongPFUnited StatesEastern Michigan
235Sylvester GrayFUnited StatesMemphis
240Orlando GrahamFUnited StatesAuburn-Montgomery
359Nate JohnstonFUnited StatesTampa

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Awards, records, and honors

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average
PlayerGPREBASTSTLBLKPTSAVG

Transactions