Miami who once played home to an ABA team known as the Floridians, got its first NBA team in 1988 as the Heat were the first of two teams heading to the Sunshine state in a four team expansion over two years. The expansion Heat would not find much help in the expansion draft but in the entry draft the Heat were able to select Syracuse star center Rony Seikaly.

The Heat would make their debut on November 5th losing to the Los Angeles Clippers 111-91 at the Miami Arena. Miami fans would have to wait a while for the Heats first win as they got off to an ice cold start losing an NBA record 17 games to their inaugural season.

Finally on December 14th the Heat got their first win beating the Clippers in LA 89-88. The Heat would get their first home win five games later when they beat the Utah Jazz 101-80.

The Heat would go on to finish their first season with a terrible 15-67 record, as their leading scorer Kevin Edwards managed just 13. 8 ppg.