The 15 greatest players in Miami Heat history

The Miami Heat have had good times since 1995-96 and that's because they have had a collection of nice players and good management. It might surpise some the collection of talent they've had in that span, but it validates them as one of the most serious organizations in the league as they've often done more with less and gotten the best out of those players.

Twelve players have made the All-Star team in a Heat uniform, and only two of them — Tyler Herro and Norman Powell — did not make the list. Playoff contributions, years played and high-leverage moments were considered. Let's review.

15. Ray Allen

Seven-and-a-half months before he hit the biggest shot in NBA Finals history, Ray Allen had 23 points against the Denver Nuggets and saved the Heat, preventing a 1-2 start to the season, with a corner triple fed by LeBron James. On top of that, he was the second-leading scorer behind Chris Bosh’s 40 that night on Nov. 3.

Never forget how Allen played all of the fourth quarter of Game 6 against the San Antonio Spurs, while Dwyane Wade played fewer than four minutes. The shot in the corner over Tony Parker was the icing on top of a Hall-of-Fame career and it saved many legacies within the Heat.

14. Rony Seikaly

Most teams were still building through big men in the ‘90s, and the Heat needed one to hang with the competition. Rony Seikaly was the team’s first draft pick, and he would go on to five seasons in the top 20 for rebounds, as well as two in the top 20 in blocks. His most significant achievement was winning the Most Improved Player award in 1989-90, his second year.

13. Anthony Mason

Despite how it ended, Anthony Mason has a case for best one-year wonder in Heat history as well because he was the team’s first All-Star not named Alonzo Mourning or Tim Hardaway. That was the only All-Star selection of his career and it happened the year he turned 34. Mason was a do-it-all player and that stretched to the defense, too.

12. Mario Chalmers

Mario Chalmers was one of the team’s best role players ever with four seasons in the top 20 in steals, and he played a nice role in winning back-to-back championships. He logged 623 games in the regular season and playoffs, plus he was big-time in the fourth quarter of Game 6 against the Spurs with his defense and a trifecta.

11. Glen Rice

He was the main piece that brought back Alonzo Mourning from Charlotte when the Hornets got cheap. Glen Rice was also the Heat’s first player to average at least 20 points per game (22.3, 1991-92), which he would do twice more before being traded. Keep in mind that he instantly made the All-Star team with Charlotte in 1995-96.

10. Udonis Haslem

There’s a reason why many across the NBA respect Udonis Haslem. Word gets around when you are a good vet who stands up for teammates and delivers in big games. Don’t forget that he was the team’s second-leading scorer in Game 6 at Dallas in 2006, the night the team first raised the Larry O’Brien trophy. For now, he is still ahead of current captain, Bam Adebayo, in team all-time rebounds and second only behind Wade in regular season games recorded.

The former captain had played 46 minutes before the season finale in 2022-23, and then he logged 25 minutes, scoring 24 points on 52.9 percent shooting. It showed that at age 42, he still had more to give since all those years after Wade’s departure to Chicago preserved him. He also gave the fans the most memorable part of the 2020-21 campaign when he was ejected three minutes into his only game of the year after getting into a confrontation with Dwight Howard.

9. Tim Hardaway, Sr.

Tim Hardaway was fourth in MVP voting in 1996-97, when the Heat won over 60 games for the first time (61). The team became real contenders after pairing him with Alonzo Mourning for a full season, and that was the year their build had its deepest trip in the playoffs. His finest moment was in Game 7 against the New York Knicks, scoring 38 points on 60 percent shooting, with seven assists and five steals in 45 minutes.

He had a sick crossover and played very efficiently with a 2.88 assist-to-turnover ratio in his six years in Miami. He is one of two points guards who have been the standard for the organization — the other is Goran Dragić.

8. Goran Dragić

It was obvious immediately how much the team needed an extra playmaker when LeBron James returned to Cleveland in 2014. Getting Goran Dragić, who had made All-NBA Third team the year prior, was the team's big move in February 2015, and they paid a steep price at the time because of two first-round picks. He was good for the remainder of that year, but they missed the playoffs, and he wasn’t a great fit next to Dwyane Wade in 2015-16.

Nonetheless, Dragić shined when given the opportunity to be the guy, and was the leading scorer on the 2016-17 squad, which narrowly missed the playoffs, but the second half of the year made it one of the funnest in team history, going 31-11. He made his only All-Star appearance in 2018 and was still playing at that level in the Orlando bubble playoffs two years later, as one of the three best players on the team that broke through to the Finals.

7. Bam Adebayo

Despite not having the same intimidation factor as Mourning’s shot-blocking, Adebayo is arguably the best pound-for-pound defender in Heat history. He can comfortably guard everywhere and has always been an intelligent player who the Heat knew was better than Hassan Whiteside from day one. And in fairness to him, the game-winning block on Jayson Tatum in overtime of Game 1 of the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals is as big-time as it gets.

Adebayo has been the second-best player on two teams that went to the Finals in 2020 and 2023. He’s in his prime and keeps moving up the team leaderboards.

6. Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal was traded to Miami at the tail end of his prime, and he was a huge part of the team capturing its first title. The Dallas Mavericks were doubling him too often in the Finals, and he made them pay, passing from the post and being a decoy. Additionally, he dropped tons of weight when coming from Los Angeles, which made him have his best defensive season in years, and he was second in MVP voting in 2004-05.

His time with the Heat was brief at three-and-a-half seasons, and only two were high level, but the potency diminished as the 2006 playoffs went on. He barely holds an edge over Adebayo on this list and it’s because of the championship.

5. Chris Bosh

The Big Three were special, and Chris Bosh’s versatility, using him as an undersized center unlocked the team. There were plenty of nights when Wade and LeBron James were the main focal points, and he took a step back offensively without sacrificing the RPMs on the other side.

One of his signature moments was the shot to force the first of three overtimes in Atlanta in a winning effort without Wade or James playing. There’s also his game-winner in Portland and the one in San Antonio. Perhaps his most memorable is blocking Danny Green from getting off a shot at the end of overtime in Game 6.

4. Alonzo Mourning

Alonzo Mourning was a bad man and getting him gave coach/president Pat Riley’s team immediate credibility. He was a real 1A option offensively and was one of the NBA’s best shot blockers, averaging three per game before he got sick.

On top of that, he was second and third in MVP voting in the consecutive years he was Defensive Player of year. He later was one of the best backup big men in the league when O’Neal joined the team, and played a crucial role in earning the first chip, which included his five blocks in 14 minutes of Game 6 at Dallas.

Mourning was the type of guy to let you know if you weren’t working hard at practice and was essentially an extension of Riley around the players.

3. Jimmy Butler

Forget how his time ended, too. Jimmy Butler was the focal point for some of the team’s best times and they took down at least four opposing favorites (by sports books and most media) during those two finals runs. The second one remarkably came as a play-in tournament team and a year after Butler said they would be back after falling short at home in Miami in Game 7 against the Boston Celtics in 2022.

He stamped his case as a Hall-of-Famer in five-and-a-half seasons in Miami and is one of the greatest playoff risers in NBA history. The Jimmy Butler-era saved the Heat from irrelevancy after James left. He deserves his jersey retired, eventually.

2. LeBron James

There’s someone else who arguably deserves a statue next to Wade’s and it was the guy who was a top-five player ever and was at his physical peak between 2010-2014. LeBron James once even casually jumped over John Lucas III, finishing a lob from Wade, and over the years that’s the play that stood out to me most, even more than his decapitation of Jason Terry. Still, an underrated moment was his game-winning triple in Andre Iguodala‘s face in Golden State.

LeBron James is not higher in the list because he only played four seasons in Miami, but he was the main force behind back-to-back titles. He could do it all as the best athlete in the game, who was asked to defend point guards like Tony Parker and Derrick Rose at key moments in the playoffs.

1. Dwyane Wade

Flash is the only choice. Wade was the best player in the world for nearly two weeks in 2006, leading the Heat to their first title, and was the second lead during the Big-Three era.

One of the things that made him special was his late takeover ability, which he had as a rookie, and how he would be at his best in big games. Aside from his 41 points and 10 rebounds in Indiana in the 2012 playoffs, another of his epic moments was Game 4 in San Antonio the following year, being the driving force preventing the Heat from falling in a 3-1 hole in the Finals.

He slashed to the rack better than anyone in the league before his knees betrayed him. Despite leaving in 2016 because he felt disrespected after taking less money throughout the years, he was brought back and retired where he belonged.

The Heat now have another nice team spearheaded by Giannis Antetokounmpo, and they will have special players in the future. But unless someone on James’ level comes along, spending a comparable amount of time to Wade in Miami, it will always be Wade County.

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