Jimmy Butler in promos for return of popular Heat Vice jerseys
01/16/2025 12:43 PM
Amidst all the drama with the Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler, the team announces that they are bringing back the popular White Vice jerseys to replace association ones of the same color for the rest of the season. As Butler comes back from his seven-game suspension on Friday when the Heat host the Denver Nuggets, it will also be the debut of the much-loved jerseys.
It was announced by the team on their social media pages that they would be bringing back the uniforms which even included promotional material with Butler wearing them. The last time the Vice jerseys were seen was in 2021, but the White ones were first played during the 2017-18 season.
Before there were imitators, there was The Original.@MiamiHEAT // #TheOriginalVicepic.twitter.com/T94khCkWAB
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 16, 2025
The Vice jerseys will be replacing the White Association edition for the rest of the season as the team’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer Michael McCullough spoke about how unique this initiative is according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
"We have been working with the NBA and with Nike for a number of years to try to make this happen," McCullough said. "We are the only team that is going to be bringing another uniform for the rest of this season. This is not a full league initiative. This is the Miami Heat standing alone and bringing back this fan-favorite uniform for the remainder of the 2024-25 season."
There is no doubt that while the White Vice jerseys are coming back, fans are also awaiting to see what happens between Butler and the Heat.
Jimmy Butler possibly back when Heat Vice jerseys return
With him being in the promotional material for the return of the uniforms, some wonder if it’s a sign that Butler will play in Friday’s game.
While the Heat expects Butler to rejoin the team and play in games again if not traded, the unveiling of the jerseys would have likely been shot way before any drama materialized publically. Still, there is no doubt that any version of the Vice Jerseys which has seen many different looks, was immensely popular and made the team a ton of revenue.
"We've been working with Nike and the NBA to bring this uniform back because it's basically a bit of a unicorn," McCullough said about the White Vice jerseys. "This uniform was in and out of the marketplace so quickly that if you didn't get your hands on it, you didn't get it. Vice was super successful, we would relish the opportunity to bring back additional uniforms. That just remains to be seen if that's going to be the case."
"There's a lot of machinations that are at work here and it's not just the Heat," McCullough continued. "We have national and international retailers who are also part of this program. So, once the wheels start turning on something like this, you really can't stop it. So obviously, we couldn't foresee what Friday may be. But we're just going to roll with it. We're prepared, but you can't put the brakes on at this point."
At any rate, the Heat is 20-19 which puts them ninth in the East as they start a three-game home stand against the Nuggets on Saturday night where it remains to be seen what the plan with Butler will be.
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