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For the first time in a long time, Elisburg needed to put his work as Heat general manager on hold. Others in the front office like Heat president Pat Riley, assistant general manager Adam Simon and senior director of basketball operations Dave Beyer took on more responsibilities to fill in for Elisburg during the early stages of the offseason. “When I first got sick, Micky [Arison], Nick [Arison] and Pat were basically like, ‘Andy, do not worry about your job one bit. You have to focus on your health. Do not worry about work, do not worry about anything that’s going on. We will absorb whatever we need to absorb here. You need to take care of yourself and you need to take of your health.’ For the most part when I was at [the hospital], that’s what I did.”
But Arison couldn’t avoid the spotlight or a speech in front of a large audience this time, as he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the 2025 class on Saturday night at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts. Arison, 76, was selected for the Hall of Fame by the Contributors Committee. “The Hall is the highest honor in basketball, but it’s not something I ever sought,” Arison said at the start of his 10-minute induction speech on Saturday.
With Arison using his speech on Saturday to chronicle the Heat’s story, it didn’t take him long to praise each of his three Hall of Fame presenters. “Pat is one of a kind,” Arison said. “He and his wife Chris have become great friends. We’ve been through highs, we’ve been through lows and he’s still an unstoppable force. Pat, we boarded the Carnival Imagination for your introductory press conference in 1995 and you talked about a parade down Biscayne Boulevard. We’ve now had three of those championship parades and have been a Hall of Fame organization ever since. There’s no way I’m standing here tonight without you.”
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Miami Heat owner Micky Arison doesn’t make many public speeches. He prefers to remain in the background and keep the spotlight off himself. But Arison couldn’t avoid the spotlight or a speech in front of a large audience this time, as he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the 2025 class on Saturday night at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts. Arison, 76, was selected for the Hall of Fame by the Contributors Committee. “The Hall is the highest honor in basketball, but it’s not something I ever sought,” Arison said at the start of his 10-minute induction speech on Saturday.
Of Mourning, Arison said: “Zo became the foundation of Heat culture. Zo, your work ethic, your toughness became the blueprint for everything we wanted to be. No NBA team has made more playoff appearances than the Miami Heat since Zo arrived in Miami 30 years ago. Zo’s impact has extended beyond the court and he has become a pillar in the South Florida community.” Arison then called Wade “the greatest player in Miami Heat history.” “Dwyane, thank you for the three rings and for giving us so many unforgettable moments,” Arison added. “No matter where life takes you, you’ll always be Heat family.”
Arison took control of the Heat in 1995, helping to build an organization that’s considered one of the NBA’s most successful franchises during over that 30-year stretch. One of the first things Arison did after becoming the Heat’s owner was hire Riley in September 1995, which ended up turning into one of Arison’s top basketball accomplishments. “Our plan was simple. Do right by South Florida and build a winner,” Arison said during his speech. “The first thing I did was join forces with Pat Riley. A proven winner, a champion and one of the greatest winners in NBA history.”
“He saved basically my coaching life, I think. When I look back at that summer [1995], it was highly doubtful that I was actually going to be able to coach the next year or whatever. So when that finally came to fruition and I became the coach in September [1995], we both went to work and we went to work on trying to make the team better.”
“As an owner, to me, he showed tremendous loyalty to myself, our staff, the people in the organization that have been there ever since he bought it,” Riley said of Arison during a conference call with South Florida reporters on Monday afternoon. “He’s a tremendously honest guy. He’s always been very honest with me, whether I wanted to hear it or not. We’ve always had that kind of relationship. And I believe that he’s very sincere about what he really wanted to accomplish, which he really wanted to win. He’s a winner. “So I trusted Micky from that standpoint. I think what we’ve been able to accomplish over the 30 years is really good. We’ve built something, I think, that South Florida enjoys from a sports entertainment concept and winning championships and getting to the Eastern Conference finals. But more than that, I think that night in and night out Micky wanted to make sure that the people in South Florida thought we could win, we were competitive. Even the years that we knew that we may not be the team, we fought like hell to be the team.”
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“The new 80 is the new 60. I’m competitive as hell. I love being in the bowl. I got a little depressed after the last two games. Micky Arison and Nick Arison and I met and they’ve been very good to me, and they said carry on, Pat. I’m going to carry on and try to make this thing better.”
