The Miami Heat had struggled to be competitive for some years after LeBron James’ departure in 2014. However, the team got back to prominence after pulling off the signing of Jimmy Butler in 2019.
Flash forward to 2023, and Jimmy Buckets is the face of the franchise. With Butler, the Heat have reached their third Conference Finals in four years, and now they hope to win the rematch against the Boston Celtics.
This may be pretty much what Pat Riley envisioned when he went after the former Sixers star, who is on pace to becoming a franchise legend. If not, why would the Heat president offer Butler to use a number that was actually retired?
Jimmy Butler reveals Heat were willing to unretire Michael Jordan’s No. 23 for him
In a recent Instagram story, Butler recalls the moment he chose to wear No. 22 in Miami. The No. 23 he had previously used in Minnesota and Philadelphia wasn’t available because the Heat retired it in honor of Michael Jordan. However, Butler revealed that Riley was willing to let him have it.
“21, I think is a wrap for me because that was my Chicago days. I’ll never wear 21 again. You can’t wear 23 here because of MJ [Michael Jordan]. Literally, Pat Riley retired it. But I will say this — whenever I did come here, Pat told me that I could wear 23 but I said no. So 22 it is,” Butler said.
Now we can’t imagine Butler with a different number, but the Heat’s No. 23 would look really good on him. Either way, Jimmy doesn’t want to mess with anyone’s legacy, and that’s fine, because he’s writing his own chapter in Miami.