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By Bryan Colbert Jr.
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The last time Miami hosted the NBA All-Star Game, Pat Riley coached the visitors. Magic Johnson won MVP, Larry Bird played his final All-Star minutes, and the Heat were less than two seasons into their existence.
Miami has won three championships since then but has not seen another All-Star Weekend.
That might finally be changing.
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The NBA is finalizing plans for Miami to host the 2028 All-Star Weekend, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday. The Heat would follow Phoenix, which hosts the 2027 event from Feb. 19-21.
By the time Miami’s turn came around, 38 years would have passed since the league last brought the game to South Florida.
For a city accustomed to drawing visitors in February, one obstacle was that too many already had plans. As Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reported in 2024, the Miami International Boat Show traditionally fell on the same holiday weekend as the All-Star Game. It occupied the Miami Beach Convention Center and filled hotel rooms the NBA needed for its own event.
The Heat and the league were already discussing a return at the time.
Heat center Bam Adebayo had a simpler answer when Chiang asked him about sharing the weekend with the boat show. “I would love to have it in Miami just because I feel like our fans deserve it,” he said.
The 14,810 fans who attended the 1990 game at Miami Arena saw the East beat the West 130-113 on Feb. 11.
Johnson scored a game-high 22 points for the losing side. Bird started for the East, while Scottie Pippen, Reggie Miller, Dennis Rodman and David Robinson all made their All-Star debuts.
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Riley spent that afternoon on the Western Conference bench.
Five years later, he joined the Heat and went on to help bring Miami titles in 2006, 2012 and 2013.
If the NBA completes the deal, the next generation of All-Stars could play on the Heat’s home floor at Kaseya Center.
The visiting coach from 1990 now has his name on the court.
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