The Floridians
Miami Floridians, later in their history known simply as
The Floridians, were a professional basketball franchise in the original, now-defunct
American Basketball Association. The Floridians played in the ABA from
1968 through
1972. The team had two color schemes: their original
red,
blue, and white, and their later
black,
magenta, and
orange.
The Miami Floridians were the new name of the charter ABA franchise formerly known as the
Minnesota Muskies, who played in
Bloomington, Minnesota at the
Met Center and wore blue and gold. The Floridians never did attract a large following, but the team did manage to make the playoffs three out of the four years of their existence. The
1968-
69 season was the most successful for the Miami Floridians by far, finishing their first season in Florida with a 43-35 record and defeating the
Minnesota Pipers in the Eastern Division semifinals 4 games to 3 before losing in the divisional finals to the
Indiana Pacers 4 games to 1.
The
1969-
1970 season was largely forgettable for the Miami Floridians. The team missed the playoffs and, just as unfortunate, the team was forced to play its "home" games in several cities:
Miami at the
Miami Beach Convention Hall,
Tampa-
St. Petersburg at the
Curtis Hixon Hall and
Bayfront Arena,
Jacksonville at the
Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum, and even in
West Palm Beach. The team's original owner sold the Miami Floridians at the end of the season and from that point on, the team was simply known as "The Floridians."
The Floridians'
1970-
71 season was better than that of the previous year, but it was obvious that even a slight name change, new colors and uniforms, and oddball promotions such as bikini-clad ballgirls wasn't going to make South Florida a pro basketball hotbed. The team finished the season with a losing 37-47 record, yet still qualified for the playoffs. The Floridians, predictably, lost their series to the
Kentucky Colonels, 4 games to 2. In The Floridians' final ABA season, the
1971-
72 team again managed a losing record (36-48) but again managed to make the playoffs. The Floridians, once again, lost in the opening round by virtue of a sweep to the stronger,
Julius Erving-led
Virginia Squires, 4 games to none.
Declining fortunes both on and off the basketball court sealed the demise of the Floridians franchise. At the end of the
1971-
1972 season, a group (led by Cincinnati lawyer Ron Grinker) made a bid for the franchise in hopes of relocating the team to Cincinnati after the void left by the
Cincinnati Royals of the NBA when they moved to Kansas City. The plan was to offer the public stocks in the team. Grinker was quoted as saying, "I'd like to have 5,000 owners of the ball club so we could have 5,000 people at the gate".
But Floridians owner Ned Doyle disbanded the franchise instead and another professional basketball team would not emerge in
Florida until the
1988 expansion
Miami Heat played their first
NBA season. The
Orlando Magic followed a year later. The Heat will wear replicas of the 1970-71 Floridians uniforms for seven dates in 2005-06 as part of the NBA's "Hardwood Classics" program. During these games Heat dancers will wear bikinis with white go-go boots like their Floridian predecessors.
*
Remembering the ABA: The Floridians*
Miami Heat Floridians website
