DJ Khaled Has Faith in Heat to Bring Home “Chips and Rings and Banners” Despite Jimmy Butler Trade and Turbulent Season

The warm weather in Miami hasn’t been enough to brighten the situation within the Heat organization. Following the Jimmy Butler trade to the Warriors, the team is 4-11 without its former franchise star. Despite their ongoing struggles, their fans continue to support the team, one of the most notable being award-winning music producer DJ Khaled.

The standard for the Heat has become championships or nothing. Although they didn’t win a title with Butler at the helm, the Heat made two deep NBA Finals runs, nearly achieving their goal. Team president Pat Riley has no intention to rebuild, nor does Khaled.

Khaled made a guest appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter and spoke about the Heat’s tumultuous season. The future may be foggy, but Khaled’s belief in the team exceeds what he can see.

“The thing about the Miami Heat is that we’re winners,” Khaled said. “We’re just a winning team. Our team is always going to overcome the non-believers and always praise the believers and bring chips and rings and banners.”

“The beautiful thing about Miami Heat is we’re winners.”

DJ Khaled discusses his faith in the team’s ability to make it to the postseason pic.twitter.com/xR9257JA0U

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 12, 2025

The Heat have fallen out of the top six in the Eastern Conference and into a spot in the play-in tournament. They currently hold a 29-35 record and are the ninth seed. The gap between the 10th and 11th seed is quite significant, which means they will be in the play-in, no matter what.

Regardless, this isn’t the situation the team hoped to be in at the start of the season. Aside from Tyler Herro’s first All-Star nod, there hasn’t been much to look forward to in Miami.

Khaled is keeping the faith in his hometown team, though. He firmly believes the Heat will overcome this period and prove the non-believers wrong in the process.

The overly optimistic Khaled maintained his positive energy when talking about Butler. Although the five-time All-NBA member is no longer on the team he supports, he had nothing but praise for the now-Warriors star.

Heat haven’t looked like winners as of late

Khaled’s positivity is great energy for his team, but the Heat haven’t reflected his comments. Instead, they have looked like, well, the complete opposite of winners.

During this 4-11 stretch, Miami has lost to some of the best teams in the NBA, including the Celtics and the Thunder. But they have also suffered some disappointing losses to teams they shouldn’t be losing to.

The Heat are currently on a four-game losing streak with their last two coming from the Bulls and the Hornets at home. Losing to Charlotte is unacceptable, considering they are one of the worst teams in the NBA with a 16-48 record.

Miami will have their hands full this offseason concerning what direction they will take. It won’t be a linear path back to the greatness they achieved with Butler at the helm.