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2002–03 Miami Heat season

NBA professional basketball team season

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The 2002–03 Miami Heat season was the 15th season for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association. The Heat received the tenth overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, and selected small forward Caron Butler from the University of Connecticut. With the continued effects of his kidney ailment, Alonzo Mourning was forced to sit out the entire regular season.

Without their star center, the Heat struggled losing 17 of their first 22 games of the regular season. The team managed to win seven of their next nine games, but then posted a six-game losing streak afterwards. The Heat finished in last place in the Atlantic Division with a 25–57 record, their worst since the 1990–91 season.

Scoring leader Eddie Jones was out for the remainder of the season due to a groin injury after 47 games, and head coach Pat Riley was fined several times for lashing out referees following games. The only bright spot on the team was Butler, who averaged 15.4 points per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, Butler was selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as a member of the Rookies team. Following the season, Mourning signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Nets, and LaPhonso Ellis retired.

Offseason

Draft picks

Main article: 2002 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club team
1	10	Caron Butler	SF
2	52	Rasual Butler	SG/SF

Roster

Pat Riley
Keith Askins
Bill Foran
Bob McAdoo
Erik Spoelstra
Stan Van Gundy

Roster Notes

Center Alonzo Mourning was on the injured reserve list due to a kidney transplant, and missed the entire regular season.

Regular season

Player statistics

Ragular season

POS	GP	GS	MP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
C	82	82	2,641	837	104	63	47	846	32.2	10.2	1.3	.8	.6	10.3
PF	80	73	2,318	425	54	37	78	767	29.0	5.3	.7	.5	1.0	9.6
C	79	6	1,594	554	24	45	40	441	20.2	7.0	.3	.6	.5	5.6
SF	78	78	2,858	397	213	137	31	1,201	36.6	5.1	2.7	1.8	.4	15.4
PG	78	8	1,722	149	246	64	5	607	22.1	1.9	3.2	.8	.1	7.8
PG	72	52	1,807	147	255	44	7	603	25.1	2.0	3.5	.6	.1	8.4
SG	72	28	1,514	186	93	21	43	540	21.0	2.6	1.3	.3	.6	7.5
SG	55	7	1,025	101	87	44	1	411	18.6	1.8	1.6	.8	.0	7.5
PF	55	3	784	157	15	15	15	277	14.3	2.9	.3	.3	.3	5.0
PG	49	26	912	83	203	45	5	199	18.6	1.7	4.1	.9	.1	4.1
SG	47	47	1,789	226	173	64	31	869	38.1	4.8	3.7	1.4	.7	18.5
SF	35	0	487	83	31	7	3	169	13.9	2.4	.9	.2	.1	4.8
PF	23	0	223	35	3	5	6	54	9.7	1.5	.1	.2	.3	2.3
C	16	0	156	32	0	1	12	32	9.8	2.0	.0	.1	.8	2.0

Awards and records

Caron Butler, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

References

[https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MIA/2003.html 2002-03 Miami Heat]
Passan, Jeff. (June 27, 2002). "Rockets Select Yao No. 1 Overall in Draft". The Washington Post.
Smith, Sam. (October 30, 2002). "Eastern Conference Capsules". Chicago Tribune.
"2002 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.
(September 13, 2002). "PRO BASKETBALL; Kidney Ailment Has Mourning Out Indefinitely". The New York Times.
"2002–03 Miami Heat Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference.
"2002–03 Miami Heat Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.
(February 8, 2003). "Basketball". The Madison Courier.
"2003 NBA Rising Stars: Sophomores 132, Rookies 112". Basketball-Reference.
Robbins, Liz. (July 17, 2003). "PRO BASKETBALL; "Excited" Mourning Introduced by Nets". The New York Times.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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