Inside The Heat

Eddie Jones Prevented Miami Heat From Signing Dunk Contest Champion In 2000

Shandel Richardson

Mar 4, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat president Pat Riley applauds Chris Bosh during a brief ceremony during the game between the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks at Miami-Dade Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Mar 4, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat president Pat Riley applauds Chris Bosh during a brief ceremony during the game between the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks at Miami-Dade Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
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The Miami Heat were the preferred destination for NBA players way before LeBron James and Chris Bosh decided to join Dwyane Wade.

Players lined up to come play for coach Pat Riley in the sun years before. That was even the case in the summer of 2000 when Isaiah Rider wanted to join the Heat.

At the time, Rider was a free agent coming off a solid season with the Atlanta Hawks. He averaged 19.3 points, the third-highest of his career. At the time, Rider was only 28. The Heat figured they could get the most out of his potential. He won the dunk contest during the 1994 All-Star Weekend.

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Rider would have served as a scoring complement to Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway. It sounded good until the Heat found a better option.

His name was Eddie Jones.

Jones, who left the Charlotte Hornets, instantly became the Heat's leading scorer. They won 50 games but were surprisingly swept in the first round of the Hornets.

"I was supposed to sign with Miami," Rider said during an appearance on the Kevin Garnett podcast. "Eddie Jones went and got that money I was supposed to get."

Jones never won consistently with the Heat. Rider actually had the better outcome. He ended up with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning a championship alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in 2001.

So it all worked out.

"Here comes Shaq and Kobe, come to the Lakers," Rider said. "That's how I ended up there."

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here