Miami Heat - Uniforms

Uniforms

The original Miami Heat uniforms consist of simple striping, exclusive only on the right side of the jersey and shorts. The home uniforms were white with lettering in red, black and orange trim, while the away uniforms were black with red, white and orange trim; the numbers were white with red, black and orange trim, using the same font as the classic Los Angeles Lakers Jerseys. The original 'flaming ball' logo is on the left leg of the shorts while the word 'Miami' is on the right leg. In the 1995-96 NBA season the Heat introduced a red alternate uniform with lettering and numbers in black, white and orange trim.

The current Heat uniforms have been in use since the 1999–2000 season. These uniforms, though similar, have marked differences such as striping on both sides, change from orange to yellow trim, updated lettering and block numbers, and a modified 'flaming ball' logo on the right leg. The black away uniform numbers are now consistent with the lettering colors (white with red trim). The alternate red uniform was introduced during the 2001–02 NBA season, and features the city name and numbers in white with black trim. They were also the only team in the NBA to have the NBA logo on the right shoulder instead of the left, until the introduction of the Adidas Revolution 30 uniforms in 2010 which regulated all teams to have the NBA logo on the left shoulder. In the 2009–10 season, the red alternates were tweaked to include the "MH" secondary logo on the left leg; the 'MH' was also added on the beltline for the away and home uniforms, the 'flaming ball' logo was also moved to the left leg. For the 2012–13 season, the city name (Miami) replaced the team name on the black away uniforms. Similar to the Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls and the Orlando Magic, the Heat had a dress code that prohibits players from wearing headbands on the court. Since then, however, the Heat have allowed the use of headbands, beginning with Jermaine O'Neal in 2009 and continued with the additions of LeBron James, Eddie House, Erick Dampier and Mike Bibby.

Since the 2008 season, the Heat participated in the NBA's Noche Latina promotions, or Latin Nights. In commemorating the occasion, they use their black away uniforms, but with the wordmark "El Heat".

In the 2011–12 season, the Heat planned to wear a 4th all-black alternate home jersey in addition to the existing 3 white, black and red road uniforms. These uniforms were unveiled in 2010 as exclusive fan apparel rather than for game use, but the Heat have planned to wear them in selected home games of the 2011–12 season (against higher ranked teams like the Bulls, Thunder, Knicks, Mavericks, Lakers etc.). These uniforms are in black and white trim; the lettering, logos and numbers traced only in white.

The Heat wore a variation of their current home uniforms on the opening night of the 2012–13 season, with gold accents and a patch of the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy on the right chest.

The Heat unveiled a new all-white home alternate uniform in the 2012–13 season. The uniform is similar to their current home uniform, but with the lettering and logos only traced in black. This was to pay tribute to their 'White Hot' promotion during their two championship runs. They began wearing the alternates on November 24, and will wear them every Saturday home game thereafter, except for the February 10 game against the Lakers, which falls on a Sunday and airs on ABC.

An all-red uniform, known as 'Big Color', will be worn on Christmas Day against the Thunder, a rematch of the 2012 Finals. The uniform is entirely red, with the lettering and logos traced in white.

The Heat have also honored the ABA's Miami Floridians by donning throwback uniforms; first the road jerseys in the 2005–06 season, then the home jerseys in the 2011–12 season.