The Best and the Worst Miami Heat Jerseys

It’s offseason mode for the Miami Heat, and with the second round of the NBA Playoffs taking place currently, the Heat are sitting at home. One would hope that they are working on a master plan to acquire the hottest player on the market or draft the most talented prospect available. The most realistic assumption is that they are working on some new jerseys for the upcoming season that, for better or for worse, will go viral. Here are, in my opinion, the best and worst Miami Heat jerseys of all time.

Best: Miami Vice Original Colorways 2017-2019

These are the jerseys that come to mind when I think of what my favorite jerseys of all time are. The team had some success in these jerseys, but the nostalgia of winning isn’t even what sells these jerseys for me. In an era of corporate minimalism, these jerseys shone bright and were unapologetic in their representation of the vibrant colors that the city of Miami is known for. You could always tell what team was playing when a game was on the TV, and the Heat were playing at home with the matching vice court. These jerseys are a modern-day classic and should be worn as much as possible. 

Worst: Miami Vice City Jersey 2020

This jersey is the perfect example of greed. The Heat knew they had something amazing with the vice jerseys, and I’m sure they were performing very well monetarily from it. The team couldn’t risk letting the colorway innovation end, so they created this weird creamsicle monstrosity. The original colorways were amazing because of how simple, but vibrant it was, much like old retro jerseys of the past. This jersey looks corporate and modern in all the worst ways, and resembles something you can create on 2K, and not the final addition to the Vice colorway legacy. 

Best: 2012 White Hot 

This is a jersey that brings many Heat fans back to a better time, as the Heat wore them during their Finals run. Beyond the success seen in these jerseys, it’s just a very slick and clean jersey that perfectly matched the era it came from. Many white NBA jersey colorways use a cream colorway, and I think it’s a style that has seen better days. This jersey used a crisp, clean white color that reminds me of the Air Jordan 4 “Pure Money” sneaker released in 2017. The jersey uses enough black on the lettering and on the side of the jersey to make the white pop even more. The players looked good, and felt very good playing in these when they went on their 2012 Finals run, and these wouldn’t be a bad retro jersey option in the future. 

Worst: 2020 Earned Jersey 

The idea behind these seems to be a gold colorway that the Heat earned for making the NBA Finals. This concept in and of itself is already very dangerous, as the Heat don’t have gold in their jersey, so to take that risk is already asking a lot out of Heat fans. The risk really shows even more when the final product looks like if Chick-fil-A Sauce released their very own jersey colorway. It’s bright, it’s ugly, and the Heat suffered enough bad losses in these jerseys that I’m sure the fans don’t mind never seeing them again. 

Best: 1988-1997 Home and Away 

Of the many different retro jersey colorways in the NBA, these might be some of my all-time favorites, The Heat entered the league during the rise of the Chicago Bulls, and their extremely famous red and white colorway. The Houston Rockets and Portland Trailblazers both had red, black, and white jersey colorways that made it very hard for the Heat to put something original together. My opinion is that the Heat killed it, especially given the stipulations. My favorite aspect is how bold the font on the lettering is. It pops out at you, and would make me proud to wear if I were a player.

Worst: Miami Heat Culture 2023-2024

This jersey lacks any aspect of culture that it claims to represent. This is the most minimalistic and basic design I’ve ever seen the Heat roll out, and it’s honestly rather shameful. It’s not even hilariously bad or ugly like some designs might be, it’s just sorta there. This design is the NBA jersey equivalent of eating food with no seasoning. This resembles more of a practice jersey than an NBA jersey that players will wear on an NBA court. Seeing Jimmy Butler wear this as he forced his way out due to his joy being gone has also left a sour taste in my mouth over the validity of these being the jerseys of Heat culture.

Best: 1997-1999 Alternate 

This is far and away my favorite red Heat jersey variation. It’s a darker red than other red Heat designs, and it’s paired with black lettering. Other red Heat jerseys use white lettering, which looks fine, but the black lettering mixed with a darker shade adds a flair of edginess and gridiness that defines the Miami Heat as an organization. Seeing Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning hoop in these really defines retro Heat hoops for me. These are my favorite red jerseys of all time, and are my most wanted modern-day retro redesign. 

Worst: 2005-2006 Hardwood Classics Jersey 

This may be controversial, as I’m sure many people view this as an amazing jersey that carries tons of nostalgia, but I genuinely think it’s ugly. In many ways, this is the original vice jersey, serving as a blend of vibrant colors and a large shade of black for balance. I just think the large amount of black, and then small strips of pink, and orange look so off-putting, and disorganized. Maybe I need to open my artistic third eye, but the colors should at least match up, and not be spaced out so oddly. This jersey has seen tons of success and was even re-released in a white colorway, but I’ve never been able to get behind it, and I think it’s one of the worst Heat jerseys.