Miami Floridians

Miami Floridians
The Floridians
Miami Floridians The Floridians logo
ConferenceNone
DivisionEastern Division
Founded1967
HistoryMinnesota Muskies
1967–1968
Miami Floridians
1968–1970
The Floridians
1970–1972
ArenaMiami Beach Convention Hall,
Bayfront Center
LocationMiami, Florida
Team colorsOrange and Blue
    (1968–70)
Black, Magenta and Orange
      (1970–72)
Team managerDennis Murphy
Head coachJim Pollard
1968–1969
Jim Pollard & Harold Blitman
1969–1970
OwnershipL.P. Shields & Fred Jefferson
1968–1969
Ned Doyle
1970–1972

The 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 began as the Minnesota Muskies, a charter ABA franchise who played in Bloomington, Minnesota at the Met Center and wore blue and gold. The Muskies finished with the league's second-best record, but wretched attendance figures (officially 2,800 per game, a figure that was likely padded) led owner Larry Shields to conclude that the team could not be viable in the Twin Cities. He sold minority shares to a group of Florida businessmen and moved the team to Miami. However, in order to pay leftover debts in Minnesota, Shields sold Rookie of the Year Mel Daniels to the Indiana Pacers, a deal now reckoned as the most lopsided trade in ABA history.