For the “Day Ones.” Vice was the way to go. Maurer described the initial call with Nike as “a bit of a dream brief.” The Heat’s design team wanted to do something that spoke to the Miami community and celebrated the fans who had supported the team from the beginning.

Every team would get a set of four uniforms - the reimagined home and away kits called the “Association” and “Icon” editions, a throwback jersey and a “City Edition” that was originally described by Nike as “Inspired by The Community.” After announcing the partnership in 2015, Nike took the reins for producing the NBA’s uniforms in time for the 2017-18 season. Brett Maurer, the Heat’s lead designer for the Vice concept, says the in-house design team had been toying with the idea for years, and started talking with Nike in 2016 about bringing the design to life.

It turns out that conversation never stopped. The groundswell for Vice was so strong, however, that in the post unveiling the alternates for the 2015-16 season, Arison felt compelled to write “Love that there’s so much excitement around HEAT Uniforms! And I hear you on the Miami Vice uni’s but that’s a conversation for another day.” Two months after Arison’s post, the Heat and Adidas went in a different direction, with a uniform that honored the military and another shrug-inducing option they called the “Legacy” jersey, which was basically a white jersey with a black stripe down one side. But despite an overwhelmingly positive response, it didn’t happen. In August of 2015, Heat owner Micky Arison posted pictures of fan-made concepts to his Instagram with the caption: “If u would like to see Adidas produce these jerseys comment here and I will pass it on to them and the NBA.” There was a social media movement for a Vice concept as far back as 2015 (if not earlier). It’s arguably the best alternate jersey in the NBA, and one the team and its fans had wanted for quite some time. It’s the Miami Grand Beach Hotel turned into cloth, drawing inspirations from the city’s historic art deco scenery and the ridiculously successful “Miami Vice” TV show from the 1980s. You know the jersey: Crisp white with the laser pink script across the font and the neon-powder blue numbering.

This is the debut of the Heat’s Vice jersey that will take the league by storm and, although they weren’t worn until 2018, the roots for the league’s most successful city edition uniform go back many years before. 25 and the Miami Heat are hosting the Sacramento Kings, but this isn’t just any late-regular season game.

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