Jersey numbers show tension runs deep between Jimmy Butler, Heat as HOFer enters fray

Andrew Wiggins, who headed to Miami in the Butler trade, will continue to wear No. 22 with them. That's the only number he's worn during his career, from high school to Kansas, to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors. It's also the number Butler wore for his six seasons in Miami.

Butler's former teammate Tyler Herro gave an interview at All-Star Weekend where he told NBA correspondent Yoav Modai that giving away Butler's number was not disrespectful.

"I feel like with how things transpired over the last couple months, I think 22 can be worn again," Herro explained, voicing some of the resentment Butler's old teammates felt at his absences and battles with the Heat's front office.

But Butler isn't even wearing No. 22 with his new team. He's chosen No. 10, or as he put it in a post on X.com, "joining the tens."

Butler put up a graphic containing mostly soccer players who wore No. 10, including Lionel Messi, who plays for Inter Miami. But he also included former Warriors and Heat star Tim Hardaway, who wore No. 10 for Golden State. That wasn't accidental.

Hardaway gave a number of interviews regarding Butler's conflict with his old team, including one with Sirius XM Radio where he criticized Butler's behavior and praised Heat president Pat Riley.

No. 22 was readily available in Golden State, and Butler chose to take Hardaway's old one. It's not retired — David Lee wore No. 10 for five seasons, while the team's general manager, Mike Dunleavy, Jr., wore No. 10 during his rookie season. But it seems clearly calculated to provoke Hardaway, and including his photo in Butler's post was very intentional.

Hardaway went back on Sirius to call Butler a "crybaby," showing that the number gambit may have gotten under the Hall of Famer's skin.

Hardaway might keep the feud going, while Butler will do his best to make himself the signature No. 10 in Warriors history. That's going to require Butler to put up numbers, not just select one.