Why are the Knicks and the Heat considered rivals? What happened in the 90s?

The Knicks and the Heat have beef with each other, that much is clear. Yet, this isn’t a simple matter of trash talk gone too far as we have seen countless times over the years. No, this situation is somewhat more complex and rooted the unprecedented move of a coach from one team to the other.

Exploring the Knicks/Heat rivalry

If you’ve caught any of the Knicks vs Heat series - it’s now tied 1-1 - then you’ve probably got the general idea that the two teams don’t like each other one bit. Indeed, with a place in the Eastern Conference Finals at stake, the classic rivalry between the two teams has taken center stage ocne again. To be clear, this current showdown between New York and Miami marks the sixth time that they’ve met in the playoffs and the first time since they duked it out in the opening round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs.

Theirs is a conflict that goes back almost 30 years and, in many ways, has come to encapsulate the gritty rough and tumble nature of the 90s era of basketball. A time when physical, low-scoring games were the norm rather than the exception and when the referee’s whistle was blown less. So, what exactly happened between these two heavyweights of the East and why has it persisted to this day?

Was it Pat Riley’s fault?

Though it’s true that the Knicks and Heat had their first post season meeting in 1997, there are many who would argue that the roots of the rivalry began to grow in June of 1995, when then Knicks head coach Pat Riley suddenly announced his resignation. At the time, the fact that Riley informed the franchise via a fax didn’t help to soften the blow, nor did his reference to wanting to have “control of personnel matters.” Then, the ball dropped.

Just three months later, Riley was appointed the Heat’s president and head coach and what’s worse is that the announcement came immediately after the franchise settled an apparent tampering investigation, which ultimately ended in Miami having to cough up a 1996 NBA Draft pick as well as $1 million in compensation. Between then and now, Riley has of course been crowned an NBA champion with the Heat and still serves as the franchise president. As one can imagine, none of that went down well.

The head-to-head between the Knicks & Heat doesn’t help either

To effectively steal a team’s coach and then go on to win a title with him is bad enough, but to cause conflict every time that you meet after that is perhaps going too far. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened between these two from the first time they met, following Riley’s controversial departure.

1997 Eastern Conference Semifinals

In Riley’s first season in Miami, he led the team to a No. 2 finish in the conference which meant a poetically ironic date with his former team who finished as the No. 3 seed. Commence the controversy. From the get-go, it was clear that the teams were out for blood and with Miami trailing 3-1 in Game 5 that’s essentially what happened as a fight broke out. The end result was that several Knicks players were suspended for Game 6 and 7 which in turn allowed Miami to overturn the deficit and advance to the Conference Finals.

1998 first round of the playoffs

Almost as if it was scripted, the Heat were once again the No. 2 seed, however, Miami entered the post season as the No. 7 seed. In Game 4 the Heat looked to bring the curtain down, but what happened next is the stuff of legend. With the Knicks fighting to avoid elimination in the final moments of the game, former Hornets teammates Larry Johnson (Knicks) and Alonzo Mourning (Heat) got into a fight which saw then Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy infamously grabbing Mourning’s leg. Both players were suspended for Game 5 leading to the Knicks managing to clinch the series.

1999 first round of the playoffs

Clearly not tired of fighting it out, the teams met once again in 99 for the third time in as many years and though there wasn’t any violence or controversy as had been seen in previous editions, there was definitely history made. Having entered the playoffs as the No. 8 seed, the Knicks would go on to eliminate the Heat courtesy of Allan Houston’s famous floater in Game 5. With that, New York became the first 8th seed to win a first-round series and indeed, they didn’t stop there as they went all the way to the NBA Finals.

2000 Eastern Conference Semifinals

This one proved to be a 7-game battle of attrition. As the teams traded blows throughout the series, it was interesting to note that the widest margin of victory was just eight points. Indeed, in that fateful final game the Knicks won the game by a single point to advance to the Conference finals.

2012 first round of the playoffs

Following a more than decade long break from each other, the teams finally came face-to-face in 2012. Needless to say, both had a very different look with the like of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh now representing Miami. On the Knicks side, there were the talents of Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire, but to be clear the series was not close. Miami raced out to a 3-0 lead, before New York escaped a sweep by the skin of their teeth in Game 4. It was simply prolonging the inevitable, as the Heat took Game 5 to close out the series, making it the first time the two teams didn’t require a decisive game between them. When all is said and done, these two teams are and have always been evenly matched. What makes that even more interesting, is that it has been so regardless of which players suited up for either side. Now tied 1-1 here in 2023, one gets the feeling we’re in for another exciting chapter in this book.