The Miami Heat are one of the NBA's most successful franchises, with numerous titles and finals appearances in recent years. However, that hasn't always been the case.

The Heat are a relatively new team, having made their debut in 1988. In their first game, under the guidance of Ron Rothstein, they played the always-awful Los Angeles Clippers. Miami lost.

In the second game, they played Dallas. Miami lost. In the third game, they played... you know, let's fast forward. In the 17th game, they played Utah. They lost. The Heat began their existence with the worst ever start to any season in NBA history. They finally beat the Clippers in their 18th game.

If this was today, Rothstein probably would have been axed as the streak reached double digits. Somehow, he actually kept his job for three years, with the Heat failing to win a quarter of their games. (No, that does not even make him the worst Jewish NBA coach in NBA history; please see the Roy Rubin profile).

After an unsuccessful year with Detroit, Rothstein returned to assistant coaching, and somehow landed back in Miami, where he was part of all three of the Heat's title teams. The 0-17 start has actually been topped (bottomed?) twice since: by the Sixers in 2015 and the Nets in 2009, when they were coached by Lawrence Frank, another Jew...

Red Auerbach! Larry Brown! Red Holzman! Eddie Gottlieb! Seriously, there have been some successful Jewish NBA coaches!