1995–96 Miami Heat season

The 1995–96 NBA season was the eighth season for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association. The Heat received the tenth overall pick in the 1995 NBA draft, and selected power forward Kurt Thomas out of Texas Christian University, and acquired Rex Chapman from the Washington Bullets during the off-season. Under new head coach, and team president Pat Riley, the Heat would be restructured; on the first day of the regular season, which began on November 3, 1995, the team acquired All-Star center Alonzo Mourning from the Charlotte Hornets.

With the addition of Mourning, the Heat won 11 of their first 14 games of the regular season, but then lost 23 of their next 34 games, holding a 22–26 at the All-Star break. Riley continued to make changes as he would make three more deals at the trading deadline; the team traded Kevin Willis and Bimbo Coles to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for All-Star guard Tim Hardaway and Chris Gatling, while trading Billy Owens and Kevin Gamble to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Walt Williams and Tyrone Corbin, and then trading rookie points guard Terrence Rencher to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Tony Smith.

The flurry of deadline deals led to one of the most remarkable wins of the season, as the Heat only had eight players available to face the Chicago Bulls at the Miami Arena on February 23, 1996, but won 113–104, thanks mainly to a 39-point game by Chapman (this was one of only 10 losses the Bulls suffered on their way to a then-record 72-win season). The team also signed free agents Jeff Malone, who was previously released by the Philadelphia 76ers, and rookie shooting guard Voshon Lenard, who previously played in the Continental Basketball Association. The Heat played above. 500 basketball for the remainder of the regular season, and finished in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 42–40 record, which earned them the #8 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Mourning averaged 23.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, while Chapman provided the team with 14.0 points per game, and led them with 125 three-point field goals, but only played 56 games due to an Achilles tendon injury, rookie guard Sasha Danilovic contributed 13.4 points per game, but only played just 19 games due to a wrist injury, and Thomas provided with 9.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Mourning also became the first Heat player to appear in an All-Star Game, as he was selected for the 1996 NBA All-Star Game in San Antonio, Texas. Mourning finished in fourteenth place in Most Valuable Player voting, and Gatling finished tied in seventh place in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1996 NBA playoffs, the Heat lost in three straight games to the Bulls, who were led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. The Bulls would defeat the Seattle SuperSonics in six games in the 1996 NBA Finals, winning their fourth championship in six years.

Following the season, Chapman signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Suns, while Williams signed with the Toronto Raptors, Gatling signed with the Dallas Mavericks, Corbin signed with the Atlanta Hawks, Smith signed with the Charlotte Hornets, and Malone retired.

For the season, the Heat added new red alternate road uniforms, which remained in use until 1999.