When Nike succeeded adidas as the NBA's official jersey supplier, it already had ideas for all the new alternate uniforms it would produce -- the so-called "city edition" uniforms, and the new "earned edition" set the NBA unveiled today as a sort of replacement for the mothballed one-day-only Christmas jerseys.
Almost every team listened. Some teams adopted Nike's ideas almost wholesale. The Heat looked over Nike's proposals, which included one jersey featuring a palm tree print, and politely sent them back. They had a plan, and they weren't deviating.
They were right to hold fast. The so-called "Vice" jerseys, in white, then black, and as of today in pink as part of the "earned edition," have rolled out to near-universal praise.