Mr. 786? Miami Heat area code apparel caught in 305 oversight
The NBA's new area code apparel for the Miami Heat is going back to the drawing board.
A spokeswoman for the league told the Miami Herald Wednesday morning that the NBA store will "soon be issuing new "305 apparel" after hearing complaints from fans after the store initially began selling merchandise with Miami's secondary area code, 786, on Tuesday.
The spokeswoman explained that the licensing company that produced the new apparel went with the area code for each team that is associated with their respective arena.
The main phone number for the Heat's Biscayne Bay home, AmericanAirlines Arena, is 786-777-1000.
But many South Floridians — including rapper and Miami native Pitbull — have helped identify the area as "the 305" in pop culture. Udonis Haslem, one of the Heat's longest-tenured players, is affectionately known as Mr. 305.
A customer service representative with the NBA Store confirmed Tuesday afternoon that “Seven Eight Six” was the only area code initially available on Heat merchandise.
Heat spokesperson Lorrie-Ann Diaz said the team knew the NBA was making area code shirts but "wasn't "aware that they had ultimately selected the 786 area code.”
The Heat’s own Court Culture brand has a “Three Oh Five” hoodie for sale at the team’s store, which Dwyane Wade wore as he traveled to Detroit Tuesday for Miami’s Wednesday night game against the Pistons.
The NBA responded to a Miami Herald email late Tuesday and said it would look into the matter with the NBA Store and licensing group.
Adrian Ruhi, Noël Gonzalez and Manny Navarro contributed to this report
This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 6:57 AM with the headline "Mr. 786? Miami Heat area code apparel caught in 305 oversight."