1992–93 Miami Heat season

The 1992–93 NBA season was the fifth season for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association. In the 1992 NBA draft, the Heat selected shooting guard Harold Miner from the University of Southern California with the twelfth overall pick, and acquired John Salley from the Detroit Pistons during the off-season; Salley won two championships with the Pistons in 1989 and 1990.

However, the Heat got off to a sluggish 10–25 start as they dealt with injuries, with most notably second-year guard Steve Smith missing the first 31 games of the regular season due to a knee injury. Meanwhile, Kevin Edwards only played just 40 games, and was benched after starting in 30 of them, and Willie Burton only played just 26 games due to a wrist injury. The team held an 18–31 record at the All-Star break.

With Smith back in the starting lineup, the Heat played solid basketball in February and March winning 18 of 28 games. However, they ended up losing six of their final seven games, finishing in fifth place in the Atlantic Division, and in eleventh place in the Eastern Conference with a 36–46 record, finishing five games behind the 8th-seeded Indiana Pacers, who defeated the Heat, 94–88 at Market Square Arena on the final day of the regular season to gain the final NBA playoff spot in the East.

Glen Rice led the team with 19.0 points per game and 148 three-point field goals, while Rony Seikaly averaged 17.1 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, and Smith provided the team with 16.0 points and 5.6 assists per game in 48 games. In addition, Grant Long averaged 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, while Edwards contributed 13.9 points and 1.7 steals per game, and Bimbo Coles provided with 10.6 points and 4.6 assists per game. Meanwhile, Miner contributed 10.3 points per game off the bench, while Salley averaged 8.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in only 51 games, and Brian Shaw provided with 7.3 points and 3.5 assists per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah, Miner won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Following the season, Edwards, one of the few players left from the team's inaugural season, signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Nets.