The Heat made waves on social media on Tuesday night after a video titled “LeBron James Introductory Press Conference (July 27, 2026)” was posted to the team’s YouTube account, as Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes. Although the video fueled speculation that the Heat had inadvertently broken the news of James’ decision, a team spokesperson tells Chiang that’s not accurate.

As Chiang writes, the Heat’s social media team had been preparing for the possibility of LeBron choosing Miami when that video was mistakenly made public. It’s common for both teams and media outlets to plan in advance for that sort of scenario, Chiang notes, but the Heat don’t have any inside information about James’ decision.

While the YouTube video was a false alarm, Greg Cote of The Miami Herald argues that the Heat should be James’ choice, contending that Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best teammate LeBron could join forces with and Erik Spoelstra is the best coach among the teams said to be in the running. Miami also needs a ball-handler and play-maker to help run the offense, making it a logical basketball fit, Cote adds.

Here’s more on the Heat:

• Appearing on The Dan Le Batard Show earlier this week (YouTube link), Heat president Pat Riley spoke about his relationship with James, explaining that even though he was angry and disappointed when LeBron left Miami in 2014, things between the two sides have “thawed” since then, as Chiang relays. “LeBron and I, we haven’t talked much, but you let go of that stuff,” Riley said.
• During that same interview on the Le Batard Show, Riley – who turned 81 earlier this year – said he’s still not thinking about retirement. “To me, I understand that. ‘Get the old man out of there,’” Riley said, per Chiang and Barry Jackson of The Herald, referring to the calls from some fans for him to step down. “It doesn’t make me want to go back and dye my hair and get the bags out from under my eyes. Age is beautiful if you show some grace in growing older. At the same time, having people like Micky [Arison] and Nick [Arison] and Madeleine [Arison] who say, ‘Just keep doing what it is you love doing.’ That’s why I’m happy for the franchise to bring Giannis.”
• After being traded from Milwaukee to Miami, Antetokounmpo will wear the No. 7 instead of the No. 34 he donned with the Bucks, notes Chiang. “I think the reason that I really changed my number is because I feel like 34 holds so much weight and has so much history,” Antetokounmpo explained. “Out of respect to the organization that drafted me and I played for 13 years, I decided to leave that number there and try to start a new chapter.”
• In case you missed it, we passed along a few notes and rumors on potential Heat free agent targets on Tuesday.