1989–90 Miami Heat season

The 1989–90 Miami Heat season was the second season for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association. The city of Miami, Florida hosted the NBA All-Star weekend at the Miami Arena this season, which also featured the 1990 NBA All-Star Game.

After finishing with a league-worst 15–67 record in their inaugural season, the Heat received the fourth overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft, and selected small forward Glen Rice from the University of Michigan, and also selected point guard Sherman Douglas out of Syracuse University with the 28th overall pick. During the off-season, the team acquired Tellis Frank from the Golden State Warriors, and signed undrafted rookie power forward Terry Davis. After playing in the Midwest Division of the Western Conference the previous season, the Heat moved into the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference this season.

With the addition of Rice and Douglas, the Heat got off to a 4–7 start to the regular season. However, the team continued to struggle by posting a nine-game losing streak between November and December, and then posting a 13-game losing streak between December and January. The Heat lost six straight games at the end of January, and later on held a 10–39 record at the All-Star break. The team posted an eight-game losing streak in February, and then posted another nine-game losing streak between March and April, losing 10 of their final 11 games of the season. The Heat finished in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with an 18–64 record, which was a three-game improvement over their inaugural season.

Second-year center Rony Seikaly averaged 16.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, and was named the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year, while Douglas averaged 14.3 points, 7.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, and Rice provided the team with 13.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. In addition, Kevin Edwards contributed 12.0 points and 1.6 steals per game, while Billy Thompson provided with 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, Frank averaged 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, and Grant Long provided with 8.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Jon Sundvold contributed 6.1 points per game, Rory Sparrow provided with 5.9 points and 3.6 assists per game, and Davis averaged 4.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Miami Arena in Miami, Thompson participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, while Sundvold participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout for the second consecutive year. The Heat finished 14th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 615,328 at the Miami Arena during the regular season. Following the season, Sparrow was traded to the Sacramento Kings, and Frank was released to free agency.