The Miami Heat franchise hasn't been around for a very long time. Miami's first season as an organization was back in the 1988-89 campaign. Yet, in the short time that the Heat have existed, they have accomplished so much. The Heat have won three titles in franchise history — 2006, 2012, and 2013 — and have made it all the way to the NBA Finals seven times since the year 2006. And during their storied history as a franchise, the Miami Heat have been fortunate enough to have some of the better players ever to play the game of basketball, such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Bosh, Jimmy Butler, and Alonzo Mourning, just to name a few.

With all of that said, let's rank the 10 greatest players in the 30-plus-year history of the Miami Heat franchise, which has seen a ton of success.

10. Udonis Haslem

The 6'8″ power forward averaged 7.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game across 879 regular-season appearances with the Miami Heat during his 20 years with the franchise. Haslem is one of the more accomplished undrafted players in the history of the NBA, as he corralled 5,791 rebounds with the Heat franchise, by far the most of any player in franchise history — Alonzo Mourning and Rony Seikaly rank second and third in total rebounds in the history of the franchise, respectively. Haslem may have never been a star in the traditional sense, but he was a star in his role for many, many years.

9. Bam Adebayo

Considering Adebayo is only 26 years of age as of writing this, he has the potential to climb up this list before his career is all said and done. But Adebayo has already achieved so much as the co-star next to Jimmy Butler. He's made two All-Star teams in his career and has been one of the best defensive players in the NBA for some time now, as he has four All-Defensive team selections to his name. What makes Adebayo such an elite defender is his versatility — he has the foot speed to stick with wings and guards on the perimeter and the bulk to battle with bigs down low in the post.

8. Glen Rice

Rice spent the first six seasons of his NBA career with the Miami Heat franchise, from 1989-90 to 1994-95. Even in the early stages of his pro career, when he was with Miami, Rice was already one of the most lethal scorers in the NBA. He averaged 19.3 points per game on efficient 45.9% shooting from the field and 38.6% from behind the three-point arc across his six years and 478 regular season appearances with the Heat franchise. It's surprising that Rice never made an All-Star team as a member of the Heat, considering how productive he was in terms of scoring the ball, but he did go on to make the All-Star team three times later on in his pro career with the Charlotte Hornets.

7. Tim Hardaway

Hardaway was arguably the best point guard in Heat franchise history. He made two All-Star teams in his six seasons with Miami and averaged 17.8 points, 7.8 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game across 367 total regular season games with the franchise. Hardaway may not have been the same caliber player he was earlier on in his career when he was a member of the Golden State Warriors playing alongside Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond, but he was still an All-Star caliber floor general for the lion's share of his Heat tenure.

6. Chris Bosh

Bosh played a crucial role on the Heat teams that went on to win titles in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. He wasn't the best or even the second-best player on those Miami squads, but he still provided invaluable floor-spacing on the offensive end with rock-solid defense on the other end. Across his six seasons with the Heat, Bosh put up 18.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.9 blocks, and 0.9 steals per game. If Bosh had decided to stay with the Raptors in the summer of 2010 and wasn't a member of the Heat during those 2012 and 2013 title runs, it's possible that the franchise would have fewer titles than they do now.

5. Jimmy Butler

Butler has been the best Heat player to play for the franchise this decade, and it's not even close. Butler has only been with the Heat for four seasons but has already accomplished so much with the organization, as he's been named to an All-Star team twice, reached the NBA Finals twice, was named the 2022-23 Eastern Conference Finals MVP, and led the entire NBA in steals per game once. Butler has averaged 21.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.8 steals per contest across 231 regular season appearances with the Heat (all starts). Here's to hoping that Butler will lead the Heat to a championship in the near future.

4. Alonzo Mourning

Mourning is one of the longest-tenured Heat players on this list, as he spent a whopping 11 years playing for the storied franchise. During the early part of his Heat tenure, when he was still in the prime of his career, Mourning was a two-way star. He made five All-Star teams, won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards, and led the entire NBA in blocks per game twice across his first seven seasons with the Heat. And then, during his second stint with Miami, he served as a valuable role player and played a key role on the 2006 Heat team led by Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal that went on to win the NBA title.

3. Shaquille O'Neal

One of the most dominant players in the history of basketball, Shaquille O'Neal wasn't quite the same caliber player he was with the Los Angeles Lakers by the time he joined the Heat, but he was still a force to be reckoned with. O'Neal made three All-Star teams and led the entire league in field-goal percentage twice during his four seasons with Miami. Most importantly, O'Neal was the second-best player on the 2006 Heat title team. He averaged 21.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals, a series the Heat went on to win in six games.

2. LeBron James

Arguably the greatest player to ever play in the NBA, LeBron James was in the prime of his career during his four seasons with the Heat. He made the All-Star team in each of his four years in Miami and averaged 26.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.7 blocks, 3.4 turnovers, and 1.7 personal fouls per game across 294 regular season games with the franchise (all starts). But what cements his place as the second-best player in Heat franchise history is the fact that he was the best player on the 2012 and 2013 title teams. Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade were certainly both invaluable to those title squads, too, but the Heat wouldn't have won back-to-back titles if it weren't for James, as he was the straw that stirred the drink for the Heat on both ends of the court.

1. Dwyane Wade

With all due respect to LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, and all of the other legends on this list, it's clear who the best player in Miami Heat franchise history is, and that's Dwyane Wade. Drafted fifth overall by the franchise back in 2003, Wade spent 15 of his 17 seasons in the NBA with the Heat. He made 13 All-Star teams, won the 2008-09 scoring title, was named the 2005-06 Finals MVP, was named the 2009-10 All-Star Game MVP, and, most importantly, won three titles as a member of the Heat. Wade is a huge reason why the Heat are known as an elite and winning franchise today, as he was an invaluable part of the team's first three title runs.