Miami Floridians
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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 Miami Floridians played in the ABA from 1968 through 1970 when they became simply The Floridians. 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, West Palm Beach, even, briefly, at Dinner Key Auditorium. 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."
Eventually Floridians owner Ned Doyle disbanded the franchise 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.
