Jimmy Butler's No. 22: Will It Be Retired by the Miami Heat?

The debate started innocently enough. A jersey-retirement tier list, a slow Friday, and the Miami Heat dropped into the conversation.

Giannis Antetokounmpo? Too soon. He’s barely unpacked in South Florida.
Bam Adebayo? On track. Not yet.
Jimmy Butler? That’s where the internet caught fire.

The Athletic slotted Butler into the group of players whose numbers are expected to rise into the rafters one day, noting he helped lead the Heat to two NBA Finals as part of a Hall of Fame résumé. That was all it took. Heat Twitter, X, message boards — all of it — erupted.

Only, inside the organization, the tone is very different.

Heat Draw a Line on No. 22

Ethan Skolnick of Five Reasons Sports poured cold water on the whole idea with one blunt post.

“This isn’t opinion/preference. Just fact,” he wrote on X. “As long as the majority of the current Heat front office is in place, 22 isn’t being retired. And the Heat front office never changes. 13 will be in rafters (and not for Marino this time). 6 also. May have been sooner if he came back.”

That’s not a gentle nudge. That’s a door slammed shut.

Skolnick’s read is clear: Adebayo’s No. 13 is destined for the rafters. LeBron James’ No. 6 will hang there too, though his decision to join the rival Philadelphia 76ers instead of returning to Miami this offseason won’t speed up any ceremonies. In the eyes of many Heat fans, he could have gone back to Cleveland and it would have stung less than picking Philly.

But Butler? Different story. Different ending.

Things between Butler and the franchise didn’t just cool; they fractured. His final weeks in Miami in early 2025 were so strained that, according to reports, team president Pat Riley was moved to tears as the relationship unraveled. For a franchise that prides itself on loyalty and continuity, that breakup still lingers.

Who Owns No. 22 Now?

Right now, No. 22 belongs to Andrew Wiggins. That alone tells you where Butler stands with the organization. Miami isn’t treating the number as sacred, off-limits real estate. It’s back in circulation, back on the court.

And here’s where the conversation could twist again.

If Wiggins finds his stride in the Antetokounmpo era, if the Heat stack championships with him as a key piece, the question might flip entirely: not whether Butler’s 22 should be retired, but whether Wiggins has earned that honor instead. Numbers in Miami are tied to winning, to culture, to how it ends as much as how it begins.

For some in the fanbase, that’s exactly how it should be. They’ve moved on from Butler. They don’t want to hear about tribute videos or jersey ceremonies for a star who left under a cloud less than two years ago.

Others can’t forget what he did in a Heat uniform.

The Case for Butler’s Legacy

Anthony Aguirre of Heat Roundtable revisited Butler’s finest hour: the 2020 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. Miami lost the series in six, but Butler’s performances carved themselves into franchise lore.

In Game 3, he delivered a 40-point triple-double: 11 rebounds, 13 assists, two steals, two blocks. In Game 5, with the season on the line, he came back with 35 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and a block. It wasn’t just the numbers. It was the image.

That now-iconic photo of Butler slumped over the barrier near the basket, chest heaving, completely spent — that shot became the visual shorthand for his Miami tenure. A star emptying the tank for a team that prided itself on doing exactly that.

Those nights, and the run to a second NBA Finals later on, are the backbone of any argument for raising 22 into the rafters. They’re why national outlets still pencil Butler into the “will be retired” category when they look back at this era.

Inside Miami, though, the equation includes the ending. The tension. The tears. The choice to move on.

Time has a way of softening edges in this league. Relationships thaw. Grudges fade. Statues and ceremonies often arrive years after anyone thought they were possible.

Right now, the Heat’s stance on Jimmy Butler’s No. 22 is firm. It’s on another player’s back, not on a path to the rafters. The franchise is building around Antetokounmpo and Adebayo, eyeing new banners, new legends, new nights that define what “Heat culture” looks like.

The real question is whether, a decade from now, that photo of Butler gasping for air in the Finals still feels like a central chapter of Miami history — or just a powerful snapshot from a star the franchise chose to leave in the past.