Heat owner Micky Arison moves one step closer to being inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame
Miami Heat owner Micky Arison moved one step closer to becoming a Basketball Hall of Famer.
Arison was among the 17 finalists announced Friday by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for enshrinement as part of the class of 2025. Arison was named a finalist by the Contributors Committee.
“I mean, it just goes to Heat culture, man,” Heat second-year forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. said of the news after competing in Friday night’s Rising Stars event to kick off NBA All-Star Weekend. “You’ve got so many guys who have come along. He’s been such a great owner, so big for the city of Miami. He’s truly deserving of that honor.”
The other finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame’s class of 2025 are the 2008 US Olympic Men’s Basketball Team, Carmelo Anthony as a player, Danny Crawford as a referee, Billy Donovan as a coach, Mark Few as a coach, Dwight Howard as a player, Marques Johnson as a player, Jerry Welsh as a coach, Buck Williams as a player, Jennifer Azzi as a player, Sue Bird as a player, Sylvia Fowles as a player, Maya Moore as a player, Molly Bolin as a player, Dušan Ivković as a coach and longtime Maccabi Tel Aviv star Tal Brody.
In Arison’s 29 years at the helm of the franchise, the Heat has won three NBA championships (2006, 2012, 2013). The Heat has also made seven NBA Finals appearances, made 10 Eastern Conference Finals appearances, won 16 division titles and advanced to the postseason 23 times.
Since Arison’s first full season operating the team, the Heat has recorded a 1,316-995 (.569) record — the best in the Eastern Conference and second-best in the NBA.
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 Arison brought the franchise to the NBA in 1988. Arison’s son, Nick Arison, has served as the Heat’s Chief Executive Officer since July 2011.
The finalists for the 2025 class have one more step to go, as the Hall of Fame’s Honors Committee will meet in the coming weeks to select who will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame later this year. The class will be unveiled at the NCAA men’s Final Four in San Antonio on April 5.
If selected, Arison would become the 10th person with Heat ties 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).
Enshrinement weekend is Sept. 5-6 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, and the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.
This story was originally published February 14, 2025 at 7:17 PM.
