Miami Heat: The Story of Rony Seikaly and His Incredible Journey

Rony Seikaly #4 of the Miami Heat looks to pass the ball over the top of Wayne Cooper #42 of the Denver Nuggets(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Rony Seikaly; Wayne Cooper
Rony Seikaly #4 of the Miami Heat looks to pass the ball over the top of Wayne Cooper #42 of the Denver Nuggets(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Rony Seikaly; Wayne Cooper
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Miami Heat
Shaquille O’Neal (L) and Rony Seikaly pose at the Setai Hotel penthouse during the Audemars Piguet party(Photo by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Audemars Piguet)

As the old saying goes, you can only have one first. And with that I ask you…can you name the Miami Heat’s first ever draft pick in franchise history?

Every Heat fan should know it is Rony Seikaly but what you don’t know about Seikaly is what this article is about along with some personal history on one of the best players in franchise history.

The backstory of Rony Seikaly is not widely known. I want to highlight a few little known facts of how Rony Seikaly was discovered and how he created his professional basketball career.

I also want to touch on where he came from, how he got here, along with how he has made a second and third career for himself.

His life is not only an inspiration but truly a remarkable tale of narrowly escaping death in war-torn Beirut, Lebanon to iconic global NBA star and South Beach mainstay. I will also cover how this man has gone from one of the original European players to make it in the NBA to one of the world’s most renowned DJs.

His roots in Miami go even deeper than that. But let’s start at the beginning.