The 2002–03 NBA season was the fifteenth season for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association. The Heat had the tenth pick in the 2002 NBA draft, and selected Caron Butler from the University of Connecticut. With the continued effects of his kidney ailment, Alonzo Mourning was forced to sit out the entire season. Without their star center, the Heat struggled losing 17 of their first 22 games. They would win seven of their next nine games, but then lose six straight along the way. The Heat finished last place in the Atlantic Division with a 25–57 record, their worst since the 1990–91 season.