Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Famous faces a familiar sight at courtside
Athletes, musicians prominent among the top 15 celebrity fans
MIAMI — Starting in 1988, see-and-beseen no longer stood solely as the NBA province of Los Angeles and New York, nor did South Florida have to head to South Beach to people watch.
With the arrival of the Miami Heat, sun, sand and surf found the perfect evening partner, with a night on the hardwood.
And they came, some of the biggest names, attracted initially by the novelty, then by Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal, and later by Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
Some arrived for the spectacle, with Bird, Magic, M.J., more than the home team, the featured attraction at the outset.
Some stayed as long as the winning continued. Some have never left. So what is the who’s who of these 30 years of Miami Heat basketball? Here’s who.
Throughout this 30th-anniversary season, the South Florida Sun Sentinel will look back at three decades of the Heat, at the men and the moments that have made this an exhausting, exhilarating and enduring ride. Today we look at the 15 best-known Heat celebrity fans.
15. Anna Kournikova. Before Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki jumped aboard, Kournikova, sometimes along with
Enrique Iglesias, was the tennis face in the crowd for the Heat’s run to the franchise’s first championship in 2006.
14. Tommy Hilfiger. The fashion designer has been known to make the commute from Palm Beach. Interestingly, he collaborated with another well-known Heat fan to create the Marc Anthony collection in 2012.
13. Rick Ross. He has a Heat logo tattooed on his head between his right temple and eye. The rapper from Carol City claimed in a radio interview to have bet $100,000 that in the wake of James’ departure the Heat would finish with a better record than the Cavaliers (they didn’t).
12. Julio Iglesias. The Spanish singer and songwriter only attended one game, but the fact that he was a member of the original ownership group brought early international notice to the franchise.
11. Dwayne Johnson. A courtside fixture when the schedule for the South Florida native allows, the former University of Miami football player makes his allegiances clear, including this social-media post from The Rock upon James’ 2014 departure, “Miami’s been my home since I was 18. Still here. Seen ’em come and go. Thank you brotha @KingJames for the epic memories. Onward. #GoHeat.”
10. Romero Britto. His colors light up the Heat offices at AmericanAirlines Arena, just as the Brazilian neo-pop artist, painter, serigrapher and sculptor has lit up the stands with his passion for the Heat, adding to the perspective of the Heat as the NBA’s Latin gateway team.
9. DJ Khaled. Hassan Whiteside’s Snapchat muse has gone as far as an attempt to buy into the team. “I bleed Miami,” he told TMZ amid his ownership bid. “It’s Miami Heat for life. It’s Miami everything.” And, yes, Whiteside has said that Khalid was among those who convinced him to re-up and stay in Miami.
8. Gabrielle Union. When she wasn’t Being Mary Jane, Mrs. Dwyane Wade was among her husband’s most ardent supporters. Few referees were spared her perspective.
7. Floyd Mayweather. A courtside staple for years, Mayweather made arguably the most significant appearance of any Heat celebrity on Jan. 27, 2015, the same night that Manny Pacquiao was in the building. It was from that halftime meeting in front of a sellout Heat crowd that their longawaited fight turned into a reality.
6. Dan Marino. His Miami Dolphins jersey hangs in the rafters at AmericanAirlines Arena, alongside that of Michael Jordan, a pair of icons that Pat Riley believed defined, respectively, South Florida sports and the NBA. For Marino, Heat games stood mostly as family affairs over the years, often in attendance with his children.
5. Flo Rida. While some departed after LeBron James left the building, Flo has come to stay. What started with his Heat anthem, “We Already Won,” has continued with an enduring presence at AmericanAirlines Arena. It’s been going down for real for a while now at Heat games.
4. Serena Williams. She has been on the court celebrating a Heat conference championship, had a marketing partnership with Wade, and has sat at games alongside with Bosh’s wife. If you didn’t know better, you’d think she had an ownership share in the Heat and not the Dolphins.
3. Clarence Clemons. He didn’t only come to watch the Heat play, he also came to play, making the drive from his Palm Beach home to often perform the national anthem on his E Street saxophone. For Heat President Pat Riley, it was his own personal touch of his beloved Bruce Springsteen until Clemons’ passing in 2011.
2. Gloria Estefan. She opened AmericanAirlines Arena with a concert on Dec. 31, 1999, two days before the Heat played for the first time in the building, and was a mainstay in the stands, collaborating in video presentations for the team over the years and operating a restaurant on arena property. Along the way, husband Emilio Estefan added his Latin beat on game nights.
1. Jimmy Buffett. No celebrity initially spent more time wasting away at Heat games, through the thick and thin, than the lead Parrothead. Heck, Buffett even was ejected from a 2001 Heat-Knicks game for what referee Joe Forte perceived was a profanity. Forte later admitted he had no idea who Buffett was.