Micky Arison Selected as Finalist for Basketball Hall-of-Fame

MIAMI, FL – Micky Arison, the Managing General Partner of the Miami HEAT, was selected today as a finalist to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall-of-Fame Class of 2025. He would become the 10th person with ties to the organization to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, joining Bob McAdoo (2000), Pat Riley (2008), Gary Payton (2013), Alonzo Mourning (2014), Shaquille O’Neal (2016), Ray Allen (2018), Chris Bosh (2021), Tim Hardaway (2022) and Dwyane Wade (2023).

Success under Micky

In 29 years under his stewardship of the franchise, Arison has guided the HEAT to three NBA Championships (2006, 2012, 2013), seven NBA Finals appearances, seven Eastern Conference championships, 10 Eastern Conference Finals appearances, 16 division titles and advanced to the postseason on 23 occasions, having not missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons over the last 20 years. Despite being the NBA’s sixth-youngest franchise, the HEAT are only one of eight teams to win at least three NBA Championships. Since his first full season operating the team, Arison has compiled a 1,316-995 (.569) record, the best in the Eastern Conference, and second-best in the NBA, as the HEAT are one of just three teams out of 124 in the four major North American professional sports leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL) to have made the playoffs at least 23 times and win at least three league championships. Additionally, the HEAT have currently sold out 622 consecutive games, the fourth-longest sellout streak in NBA history.

Arison’s Leadership

Arison served a three-year term as the Chairman of the NBA Board of Governors beginning in October of 2005 and his family has been involved with the organization since his father Ted brought the franchise to the NBA in 1988. Since Arison took control of the team, he has shown stability throughout the organization, including hiring just three head coaches (Riley, Van Gundy, Spoelstra) over that span. He has also shown his commitment to the fans of South Florida when he worked successfully with Miami-Dade public officials to keep the HEAT in downtown Miami. The result of his diligence was an innovative public-private partnership that together built the privately financed county-owned state-of-the-art Kaseya Center. Under Arison’s leadership, the HEAT earned the NBA’s 2022 Sales & Marketing Team of the Year award and have been champions in the fight for inclusion and social justice. In November 2020, Arison was named to the board of the NBA’s Social Justice Coalition which focuses on action and change around voting access and criminal justice reform at the national, state, and local levels. In 2018, the HEAT captured the NBA’s inaugural Inclusion Leadership Award for the franchise’s ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Philanthropy

The Arison family are devoted to South Florida and, over the years, have supported a variety of arts-related and community service organizations. Organizations supported by the Arison family include the World Central Kitchen, Wounded Warriors, ICA Miami, Miami Children’s Museum, Jackson Memorial Foundation, Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, Project Medishare for Haiti, Direct Relief, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Miami, United Way of Miami Dade, Chapman Partnership, Lotus House, Overtown Youth Center, Feeding South Florida, and many others.