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Jimmy Butler's New Jersey Number With Warriors Is Tribute to a Soccer Great

New team, new era, new jersey.

Kyle Koster

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) shoots the basketball against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first quarter at Kaseya Center.
Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) shoots the basketball against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first quarter at Kaseya Center. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Jimmy Butler's soap opera will create new episodes in the Bay Area after he successfully found a way out of Miami and secured a spot alongside Stephen Curry with the Golden State Warriors. The dynamic postseason performer was introduced by his new team on Thursday in an event that featured the traditional "hold up your new jersey and smile" photo-op.

Butler, who wore No. 22 with the Heat, revealed that he opted for a new number. After wearing Nos. 21 and 23 in previous stops with Minnesota, Chicago and Philadelphia, is going low with No. 10. And he has a very specific reason for doing so.

The homage to the Brazilian soccer star comes as Neymar, currently a member of Santos FC, explores an MLS future with three teams, including Miami FC. Of course, the No. 10 is most associated in the soccer world with the sport's best player, Lionel Messi, who sports the digits in South Beach.

Butler is hitting the ground in Golden State running, wasting no time vowing that a championship is coming soon and unveiling a revolutionary new strategy that consists of feeding Stephen Curry the basketball and getting the heck out of the way.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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