Heat vs Magic: NBA Rivalry Rundown

The Miami Heat struggled upon joining the NBA as an expansion team in 1988. The Heat finished last in the league in points per game in their inaugural season and cycled through three head coaches in their first seven seasons. The Heat missed the playoffs in five of their first seven seasons before Hall of Famer Pat Riley took over the reins and began building a team that would turn into Eastern Conference contenders in the late 1990s. Riley's Heat were on the precipice of the NBA Finals before losing to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls in the 1997 Eastern Conference finals. The Heat were a legitimate title threat but didn't get past the New York Knicks, who eliminated them from the playoffs in three consecutive seasons from 1998 to 2000. The Heat struggled for a couple of seasons before Dwyane Wade helped beat the Charlotte Hornets in the first round of the 2003 playoffs in his rookie season. Riley's knack for making a big splash helped the Heat return to the upper echelon in the Eastern Conference. The Heat then acquired Shaquille O'Neal in a blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004 to turn Miami into champions. O'Neal and Wade led Miami to its first NBA title by beating the Dallas Mavericks in 2006. Riley struck gold again by creating a dominating trio in 2010. LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Wade to form the most daunting threesome in the league. The Heat became the most hated team outside South Beach, with critics denouncing James' decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and create a super team. James, Wade, and Bosh won two NBA championships and made the Finals all four seasons that they were together. James won his first NBA Finals by toppling the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012. Erik Spoelstra's team went to a third consecutive NBA Finals in 2013 before beating the San Antonio Spurs in a classic seven-game series. The Heat became the first Eastern Conference team to win back-to-back Finals since Michael Jordan's Bulls. Miami went to a fourth consecutive NBA Finals after getting past the Bobcats, Nets, and Pacers. But James & Co. couldn't beat the Spurs this time. James ended the Big Three Era by returning to Cleveland after the 2013-14 season. The Heat re-tooled before becoming contenders again. Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic, and Kelly Olynyk led Miami past the Pacers, Bucks, and Celtics to reach the franchise's sixth NBA Finals in 2020. James was the roadblock this time for Miami, as his Lakers won the title after getting past the Trail Blazers, Rockets, and Nuggets in the Western Conference. The Heat traded Dragic and Precious Achiuwa to the Toronto Raptors in 2021 to land All-Star Kyle Lowry.

The Orlando Magic joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1989 and adopted its name to honor Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Orlando. The Magic lost at least 50 games in their first three seasons before Shaquille O'Neal gave them a jolt as the No. 1 overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. O'Neal became the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1985 to be voted to the NBA All-Star team. The Magic bolstered their roster by acquiring Memphis point guard Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway in a draft-day trade one year later. O'Neal and Hardaway instantly clicked. The Magic's 1-2 punch helped them to their first 50-win season. Shaq and Penny led Orlando to the Finals the following season after beating the Bulls, who welcomed back Michael Jordan from retirement late in the season, and the Pacers. The Houston Rockets swept the Magic in the Finals, but Orlando's future looked bright. Then, Jordan intervened. One season after Nick Anderson's clutch steal from Jordan highlighted the Magic's series victory, Jordan reclaimed his throne. Orlando won 60 games in 1995-96 and beat the Pistons and Hawks in the first two rounds to set up another playoff showdown with Jordan. The Magic, however, were no match for the Bulls, who swept them. O'Neal and Hardaway's three-year run together ended when Shaq signed with the Lakers in 1996. Hardaway never won a playoff series in Orlando without O'Neal. The Magic traded Hardaway to Phoenix in 1999 to reshape the roster. Orlando landed Pistons All-Star Grant Hill and Toronto's Tracy McGrady in the offseason, but it just didn't work. The Magic had three consecutive first-round playoff exits from 2001 to 2003. McGrady, who was unhappy with the organization's inability to bring in sufficient help, was traded to the Rockets in the offseason. The Magic rebuilt and landed Atlanta teenager Dwight Howard with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft. Howard led Orlando to six consecutive playoff appearances from 2007 to 2012 but never hoisted the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. The Magic lost in the 2009 Finals before trading for Vince Carter. Howard and Carter helped Orlando to a 59-win regular season but couldn't get past the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. The Magic finally gave in to Howard's trade demands by moving him to the Lakers in 2012. Orlando endured a six-year playoff drought before returning to the postseason in 2019. The Magic finished seventh in the Eastern Conference standings to earn their first playoff berth since 2012. Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier lost to the eventual NBA champion Toronto Raptors in the first round. Orlando drafted first-rounders Cole Anthony, Chuma Okeke, and Jalen Suggs with the hope of becoming perennial playoff contenders again.

The rivalry between the Heat and Magic can be traced back to the NBA's decision in the late 1980s to place two expansion teams in Florida. With the cities separated by just a few hours, league decision-makers knew exactly what they were doing to expand the NBA's reach to Florida. Fans routinely made the trip up or down I-95 or the Florida Turnpike to watch the in-state matchups. Both teams predictably struggled in their first few seasons before the Magic found success to ratchet up Heat fans' distaste for them.

O'Neal and Hardaway delivered the first significant blow in the rivalry. The Magic were thriving with their dynamic duo, while the Heat barely had their heads above water. Shaq and Penny were household names for an NBA title contender. Miami couldn't even win a playoff series. The Magic were the big brothers in the state until Shaq left for Los Angeles in 1996. The Heat seized on that opportunity to become the best team in Florida.

The Heat jumped over the Magic in the Eastern Conference hierarchy after O'Neal went to the Lakers. Riley's wizardry helped land All-Stars Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway to gain bragging rights in the Sunshine State. The Heat turned into a force in the Eastern Conference, while Penny Hardaway attempted to carry the Magic on his back without Shaq. The Heat and Magic met just once in the playoffs in 1997. Mourning and Tim Hardaway helped Miami grab the No. 2 seed in the playoffs after a 61-21 regular-season record. Penny Hardaway somehow managed to lift Orlando to the postseason with a 45-37 mark in its first season without Shaq. The first-round playoff matchup was a massive mismatch on paper, but Penny Hardaway didn't let his team go away quietly. The All-Star guard put together back-to-back 40-point performances to force a decisive Game 5 against the heavily favored Heat. Penny recorded 33 points and six assists, but it wasn't enough. Mourning's 22-point, 12-rebound effort, coupled with double-doubles from Tim Hardaway and P.J. Brown, helped Miami beat its in-state rival. Shaq's return to Florida stoked the flames of the rivalry. The Heat traded for O'Neal after the Lakers dynasty ended in 2004. The perennial All-Star who was beloved in Orlando a decade earlier now became the enemy. O'Neal and Dwyane Wade did what O'Neal and Hardaway couldn't do in Orlando. O'Neal helped the Heat win their first NBA Finals in 2006, drawing the ire of Magic fans everywhere. The pendulum swung back briefly to the Magic. Head coach Stan Van Gundy leaned on Dwight Howard to reach the second NBA Finals in Magic history in 2009, but everything changed when LeBron James took his talents to South Beach to form the Heat's super team in 2010. One year removed from an NBA Finals appearance, the Magic felt like an afterthought in the state. The ensuing trash talk made for entertaining theater, though.

LeBron James' decision to create a loaded team in Miami with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade didn't sit well with the Magic, who had been the better team in the state in recent years. James immediately grabbed the spotlight away from the Magic, who had reached the Eastern Conference finals and NBA Finals in each of the previous two seasons before James' arrival. Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy, who was fired by the Heat early in their first championship season in 2005-06, took jabs at the media for its incessant coverage of the Heat. “ESPN is all Heat, all the time,” Van Gundy quipped. Van Gundy didn't stop there. His opinion of Bosh joining Wade grabbed the headlines, too. “Well, he's been following him around for two weeks like his lapdog,” Van Gundy said of Bosh. “So, that doesn't really surprise me.” Van Gundy wasn't alone in his distaste of LeBron and the Heat. The Magic's president of basketball operations Otis Smith chimed in about James' decision to join Miami. “I was surprised that he went,” he said. “I thought he was, I guess, more of a competitor.” James, who publicly predicted multiple championships in Miami, fired back at his in-state rivals. “Orlando, that's funny that they questioned my competitiveness,” James said. “I like that. The locker room — we're going to put a lot of stuff in the locker room … We'll deal with them later." James' arrival brought new energy to the rivalry with the Magic. Howard claimed that “we're trying to take their heads off.” Even backup Magic center Marcin Gortat voiced his annoyance. “I'm sick of listening every hour about Miami,” Gortat said. “How great they are, how big they are, what kind of record they're going to have.” It made for great theater, but the Magic didn't back up their tough talk. Orlando lost in the first round of the playoffs, while James, Wade, and Bosh went to the first of four consecutive NBA Finals in 2011. The public feuding died down after James' departure. The teams have combined for just one NBA Finals appearance and haven't won a title since Miami's Big Three disbanded. Wade added some fuel to the fire years later at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game weekend, which featured an entertaining NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest between the Heat's Derrick Jones Jr. and the Magic's Aaron Gordon. Wade gave Gordon a score of 9 instead of a perfect 10 on one of the best dunks in the contest to help give Jones Jr. the slam-dunk crown.

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