1999–2000 Miami Heat season

The 1999–2000 NBA season was the 12th season for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association.^[1] During the off-season, the Heat signed free agents Otis Thorpe and undrafted rookie guard Anthony Carter.^[2] The Heat played the first two months of the season at the Miami Arena. They played their final home game at the Miami Arena on December 28, 1999 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and then moved into the American Airlines Arena on January 2, 2000 against the Orlando Magic.^[3] The Heat got off to a 15–4 start, then later on holding a 30–17 record at the All-Star break. However, Tim Hardaway played just 52 games due to knee injuries,^[4] and Voshon Lenard was out for the remainder of the season with a lower abdominal strain after 53 games.^[5] At midseason, the team signed free agent Bruce Bowen. The Heat went on a 7-game winning streak between March and April, and finished first place in the Atlantic Division with a 52–30 record.^[6]

Alonzo Mourning averaged 21.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game, and was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. He was also named to the All-NBA Second Team, NBA All-Defensive First Team, was selected for the 2000 NBA All-Star Game,^[7] and finished in third place in Most Valuable Player voting behind Shaquille O'Neal and Kevin Garnett.^[8] In addition, Jamal Mashburn finished second on the team in scoring averaging 17.5 points per game, while Hardaway provided them with 13.4 points and 7.4 assists per game, Lenard contributed 11.9 points per game off the bench, and P.J. Brown provided with 9.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.^[9]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the playoffs, the Heat swept the Detroit Pistons in three straight games en route to advancing to the second round for the first time since 1997.^[10] In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, they faced the New York Knicks for the fourth consecutive year. After taking a 3–2 series lead, the Heat would lose the final two games to the 3rd-seeded Knicks, including an 83–82 loss in Game 7 at Miami.^[11] Following the season, Mashburn, Brown and Thrope were all traded to the Charlotte Hornets,^[12] while Voshon Lenard and Mark Strickland were both traded to the Denver Nuggets, and Clarence Weatherspoon was dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

For the season, the Heat changed their primary logo adding a darker red color to the flaming basketball,^[13] and added new uniforms with side panels to their jerseys and shorts.^[14][15] The uniforms lasted until 2009, where they switched the logo to the other leg of the shorts, while the primary logo is still present as of 2021.

Offseason[]

Draft picks[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	25	Tim James	SF	United States	University of Miami
2	53	Rodney Buford	SG	United States	Creighton University

Roster[]

1999–2000 Miami Heat roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From G/F 12 Bowen, Bruce 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1971–06–14 Cal State Fullerton F/C 42 Brown, P. J. (C) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1969–10–14 Louisiana Tech G/F 32 Buford, Rodney 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 189 lb (86 kg) 1977–11–02 Creighton G 25 Carter, Anthony 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1975–06–16 Hawaiʻi C 4 Causwell, Duane 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1968–05–31 Temple G 10 Hardaway, Tim 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1966–09–01 UTEP G/F 40 James, Tim 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 212 lb (96 kg) 1976–12–26 Miami (FL) F 6 Jamison, Harold  6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 260 lb (118 kg) 1976–11–20 Clemson G 21 Lenard, Voshon  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1973–05–14 Minnesota G/F 9 Majerle, Dan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1965–09–09 Central Michigan F 24 Mashburn, Jamal 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1972–11–29 Kentucky C 33 Mourning, Alonzo (C) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1970–02–08 Georgetown F 5 Strickland, Mark 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1970–07–14 Temple F 52 Thorpe, Otis (C) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1962–08–05 Providence F 35 Weatherspoon, Clarence 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1970–09–08 Southern Miss

Head coach Pat Riley Assistant coach(es) Keith Askins Jeff Bzdelik Bill Foran Marc Iavaroni Bob McAdoo Erik Spoelstra Stan Van Gundy Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Last transaction: February 23, 2000

Regular season[]

Standings[]

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

^[16]

Record vs. opponents[]

Playoffs[]

Player statistics[]

NOTE: Please write the players statistics in alphabetical order by last name.

Season[]

Playoffs[]

Awards and honors[]

• Alonzo Mourning, NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award
• Alonzo Mourning, All-NBA Second Team
• Alonzo Mourning, NBA All-Defensive First Team

Transactions[]

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References[]