Miami Heat unveil newest 'Culture' jerseys: Here's where they rank among the best

The Miami Heat on Thursday unveiled its new City Edition uniform, and it’s a continuation of last season’s “Heat Culture” campaign.

Last season, the uniforms were black with the words “Heat Culture” across the chest, designed to reflect the mentality established by current Heat president and former Heat coach Pat Riley when he joined the organization in 1995.

Now… they’re red. 

Sorry! “Blood red.”

The NBA in a social media post described the new jersey as a “color flip.”

“A color flip of the 2023-24 ‘Heat Culture’ jersey, the Miami Heat's 2024-25 Nike NBA City Edition Jersey retains all the elements of its predecessor, save for the base color: a ‘Blood Red’ hue honoring the transformative, win-at-all-costs mentality of HEAT Culture’s architect, Pat Riley.”

My two cents: I love the Heat’s standard red jersey. It’s the perfect tone, deep, not too bright. These are… not that. The “blood red” is bright, and I have a feeling watching NBA Cup games at Kaseya Center is going to give me a craving for McDonald’s. 

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the “Heat Culture” campaign in general. I thought it was fine, but a little plane. I get it, they are supposed to look like practice jerseys to reflect Riley’s legendary practices. But also, they look like practice jerseys. The black was fine. The red… maybe it’ll grow on me.

Since you asked, here’s a definitive ranking of the Heat’s City Edition jerseys.

Legendary tier

2018-19: ‘Miami Vice Nights’ (Black) and ‘Miami Sunset Vice’ (Fuchsia)

2017-18: ‘Miami Vice’ (White)

Could be worse

2019-20: ‘Miami ViceWave’ (Light blue)

2021-22: Mashup (Black)

2023-24: Heat Culture (Black)

Why?

2024-25: Heat Culture (Blood red)

2022-23: Mashup (White)

2020-21: ‘Miami ViceVersa’ (Pink and blue)

Those Vice Nights jerseys are a classic. Everyone can remember Dwyane Wade, fully braided, hitting an impossible game-winner against the Golden State Warriors at the buzzer while wearing that jersey. 

The Heat also got an “Earned” alternative jersey that season and rightly chose the fuchsia ones to balance out the black. It was a tremendous follow-up to the first series of Miami Vice uniforms and the rare occasion when the sequel is better than the original. But that’s not to say the original white Vice jerseys don’t belong in the same tier. They do. The Heat set the standard for City Edition uniforms with their first two installments. They’ve been chasing that success ever since.