Miami Floridians
| Miami Floridians The Floridians | |
|---|---|
Miami, Florida | |
| Team colors | Orange and Blue (1968–70) Black, Magenta and Orange (1970–72) |
| Team manager | Dennis Murphy |
| Head coach | Jim Pollard 1968–1969 Jim Pollard & Harold Blitman 1969–1970 |
| Ownership | L.P. Shields & Fred Jefferson 1968–1969 Ned Doyle 1970–1972 |
The Miami Floridians, later in their history known simply as The Floridians, were a professional basketball franchise in the original, now-defunct
The Miami Floridians began as the Minnesota Muskies, a charter ABA franchise who played in Bloomington, Minnesota at the Met Center and wore blue and gold. The Muskies finished with the league's second-best record, but wretched attendance figures (officially 2,800 per game, a figure that was likely padded) led owner Larry Shields to conclude that the team could not be viable in the Twin Cities. He sold minority shares to a group of Florida businessmen and moved the team to Miami. However, in order to pay leftover debts in Minnesota, Shields sold Rookie of the Year Mel Daniels to the Indiana Pacers, a deal now reckoned as the most lopsided trade in ABA history.
Move to Miami
The Floridians never attracted a large following, despite numerous promotions—including ballgirls wearing white bikinis and go-go boots. However, the team did manage to make the playoffs three out of the four years of their existence. The Floridians' first homes were the
The
The Floridians
Following the 1969–70 season, new owner
For the 1971–72 season, the Floridians split their home games between Miami and Tampa. They again finished in fourth place in the Eastern Division, with a record of 36–48. Once again the team made the playoffs and once again they lost their series, this time to the Virginia Squires, 4–0.[1]
The Floridians' dreadful attendance for their two home playoff games against the Squires convinced Doyle that the team could not be viable in South Florida. After a deal to relocate to Cincinnati fell through, and attempts to find a bigger market turned up nil, he disbanded the franchise in June 1972. Big-time basketball wouldn't return to Florida until the NBA expansion team, the Miami Heat, played their first season in 1988. The Orlando Magic followed a year later.
The Heat franchise paid tribute to the Floridians franchise in recent years by wearing replicas of the 1970–71 Floridians home and away uniforms for several games in the 2005–06 and 2011–12 seasons as part of the NBA's "Hardwood Classics Night" program. However, the franchises are not linked in any way other than their respective connections to the city of Miami.
Basketball Hall of Famers
| Miami Floridians Hall of Famers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | ||||
| No. | Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
| 34 | Mel Daniels | C | 1967–1968 | 2012 |
| Coaches | ||||
| Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted | |
| Jim Pollard 1 | Head Coach | 1968–1969 | 1978 | |
Notes:
- 1 Inducted as a player.
Season-by-season
Note: W = wins, L = losses, % = win–loss %
| Season | W | L | % | Playoffs | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Floridians | |||||
| 1968–69 | 43 | 35 | .551 | Won Division Semifinals Lost Division Finals |
Miami 4, Minnesota 3 Indiana 4, Miami 1 |
| 1969–70 | 23 | 61 | .274 | Did not qualify | |
| The Floridians | |||||
| 1970–71 | 37 | 47 | .440 | Lost Division Semifinals | Kentucky 4, The Floridians 2 |
| 1971–72 | 36 | 48 | .429 | Lost Division Semifinals | Virginia 4, The Floridians 0 |
References
- ^ a b c "Remember the ABA: The Floridians".
- ^ "Floridians Dismiss Pollard and then Lose to Pipers with Blitman as Coach; PITTSBURGH WINS AT MIAMI, 101-91". The New York Times. 30 November 1969.
- ^ "Daytona Beach Morning Journal - Google News Archive Search".
- ^ "Gettysburg Times - Google News Archive Search".