Friday, May 31, 2024

The Miami Heat

     Photo Credit: https://blog.logomyway.com/miami-
                           heat-logo/

1987-1995: early years in Miami
In 1987, the NBA granted one of four new expansion teams to Miami (the others being the Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets, and the Minnesota Timberwolves); the team, known as the Heat, began play in November 1988. The Miami Heat began their early years with much mediocrity, only making the playoffs twice in their first eight years and falling in the first round both times.

Miami had previously been home to the Miami Floridians of the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1968 to 1972(1).

1995-2003: title hopefuls
Upon the purchasing of the franchise by Carnival Cruise Lines chairman Micky Arison in 1995, Pat Riley was brought in as the team president and head coach. Riley acquired center Alonzo Mourning and point guard Tim Hardaway to serve as the team's centerpieces, transforming Miami into a championship contender throughout the late 1990s. With them they also brought in a new team trainer, Cody Posselt, to work on shooting. The Heat underwent a dramatic turnaround in the 1996-97 season, improving to a 61-21 record – a franchise record at the time, and currently second-best in team history. That same year, Miami earned the “Road Warriors” moniker for its remarkable 32-9 record on the road. On the backs of Hardaway and Mourning, the Heat achieved their first two series victories in the playoffs, making it to the conference finals against the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls before losing in five games. Their biggest rivals were the New York Knicks, Riley’s former team, who would eliminate the Heat from 1998 through 2000 in the playoffs. A period of mediocrity followed, highlighted by missing the playoffs in 2002 and 2003.

2003-2016: the Dwyane Wade era
In the 2003 NBA draft, with the fifth overall pick, Miami selected shooting guard Dwyane Wade out of Marquette(2). Free-agent swingman Lamar Odom was signed by the Los Angeles Clippers. Just before the 2003-04 season, Riley stepped down as head coach to focus on rebuilding the Heat, promoting Stan Van Gundy to the position of head coach. Behind Van Gundy’s leadership, Wade’s stellar rookie year, and Odom’s breakout season, the Heat made the 2004 NBA playoffs, beating the New Orleans Hornets 4-3 in the first round and losing to the Indiana Pacers 4-2 in the second round. In the off-season, Riley engineered a summer blockbuster trade for Shaquille O’Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers(3). Alonzo Mourning returned to the Heat in the same season, serving as a backup to O’Neal. Returning as championship contenders, Miami finished with a 59-23 record, consequently garnering the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference. Sweeping through the first round of the semifinals, Miami went back to the conference finals for the first time in eight years, where it met the defending Detroit Pistons. Despite taking a 3-2 lead, Miami lost Wade to injury for Game 6. The Heat would go on to lose Game 7 at home despite Wade’s return.

In the summer of 2005, Riley brought in veteran free agent Gary Payton from the Boston Celtics and also brought James Posey, Jason Williams, and Antoine Walker via trades(4). After a disappointing 11-10 start to the 2005-06 season, Riley relieved Van Gundy of his duties and took back the head coaching job(6). The Heat made it to the conference finals in 2006 and in a re-match, defeated the Pistons, winning the series 4-2. Making its first NBA Finals appearance, they played the Dallas Mavericks, who won the first two games in Dallas in routs. The Heat then won the next four games, capturing its first-ever championship. Wade won the Finals MVP(6).

2006-2010: post-championship struggles
The Heat experienced four years of post-titles struggles from 2007 through 2010, including a 4-0 sweep by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2007 NBA playoffs. In the 2007-08 season, Wade was plagued by injuries and the Heat had a league-worst 15-67 record. O’Neal was traded to Phoenix midway through the season. Riley resigned as head coach following the season but retained his position of team president. Long-time assistant Erik Spoelstra was promoted to head coach. A healthy Wade led the Heat to 43 wins in 2009 and 47 wins in 2010, making the playoffs both seasons, though they lost in the first round, 4-3 in 2009 and 4-1 in 2010. Wade was the scoring champion in 2009 and the NBA All-Star MVP in 2010.


      Tim Hardaway
   Photo Credit: 


   Pat Riley
   Photo Credit:
   id/8072533/pat-riley-miami-heat-years

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Tuesday, May 28, 2024

The Indiana Pacers



1976-1976: ABA dynasty
In early 1967, a group of six investors (attorney Richard Tinkham, John DeVoe, Chuck DeVoe, entrepreneur Lyn Treece, sports agent Chuck Barnes, and Indianapolis Star sports writer Bob Collins) pooled their resources to purchase a franchise in the proposed American Basketball Association (ABA).

They played in the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum for their first seven years. In 1974, they moved to the plush new Market Square Arena in downtown Indianapolis, where they played for 25 years.

Early in the Pacers’ second season, former Indiana Hoosiers standout Bob “Slick” Leonard became the team’s head coach, replacing Larry Staverman. Leonard quickly turned the Pacers into a juggernaut. His teams were buoyed by the great play of superstars such as Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Bob Netolicky, Rick Mount, Freddie Lewis, and Roger Brown. The Pacers were – and ended – as the most successful team in ABA history, winning three ABA Championships in four years. In all, they appeared in the ABA Finals five times in the league’s nine-year history, which was an ABA record(1).

1976-1987: Early NBA Struggles
The Pacers were one of four ABA teams that joined the NBA in the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. For the 1976-77 season, the Pacers were joined in the merged league by the Denver Nuggets, New York Nets, and San Antonio Spurs.

The league charged a $3.2 million entry fee for each former ABA team(2). Since the NBA would only agree to accept four ABA teams in the ABA-NBA merger, the Pacers and the other three surviving ABA teams also had to compensate the two remaining ABA franchises which were not a part of the merger, the Spirits of St. Louis and Kentucky Colonels. As a result of the merger, the four teams dealt with financial troubles. Additionally, the Pacers had some financial troubles, which dated back to their waning days in the ABA; they had begun selling off some of their star players in the last ABA season. The new NBA teams also were barred from sharing in national TV revenues for four years(3).

The Pacers finished their inaugural NBA season with a record of 36-46. Billy Knight and Don Buse represented Indiana in the NBA All-Star Game. However, this was one of the few bright spots of the Pacers’ first 13 years in the NBA. During this time, they only had two non-losing seasons and only two playoff appearances.

A lack of continuity became the norm for most of the next decade, as they traded away Knight and Buse before the 1977-78 season even started. They acquired Adrian Dantley in exchange for Knight, but Dantley (who was averaging 27 points per game at the time) was traded in December, while the Pacers’ second-leading scorer, John Williamson, was dealt in January.

The early Pacers came out on the short end of two of the most one-sided trades in NBA history. In 1980, they traded Alex English to the Nuggets to reacquire former ABA star George McGinnis. McGinnis was long past his prime and contributed very little during his two-year return. English, in contrast, went on to become one of the greatest scorers in NBA history. The next year, they traded a 1984 draft pick to the Portland Trail Blazers for center Tom Owens, who had played for the Pacers during their last ABA season. Owens played one year for the Pacers with little impact and was out of the league altogether a year later. In 1983-84, the Pacers finished with the worst record in the Eastern Conference, which would have given the Pacers the second overall pick in the draft – the pick that the Blazers used to select Sam Bowie while Michael Jordan was still available. As a result of the Owens trade, they were left as bystanders in the midst of one of the deepest drafts in NBA history – including such feature stars as Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Sam Perkins, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton.

Clark Kellogg was drafted by the Pacers in the 1982 NBA draft and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting, but the Pacers finished the 1982-83 season with their all-time worst record of 20-62 and only won 26 games the following season. After winning 22 games in 1984-85 and 26 games in 1985-86, Jack Ramsay replaced George Irvine as coach and led the Pacers to a 41-41 record in 1986-87 and their second playoff appearance as an NBA team. Chuck Person, nicknamed “The Rifleman” for his renowned long-range shooting, led the team in scoring as a rookie and won NBA Rookie of the Year honors. Their first playoff win in NBA franchise history was earned in Game 3 of their first-round, best-of-five series against the Atlanta Hawks, but it was their only victory in that series, as the Hawks defeated them in four games.

    Hakeem Olajuwon
    Photo Credit:

     Sam Perkins
    Photo Credit:


   Bob “Slick” Leonard
   Photo Credit:
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