Millions of Dollars’ Worth of Heat Memorabilia Stolen From Kaseya Center

Federal authorities are investigating what’s been described as the “largest memorabilia heist” in sports history after millions of dollars’ worth of Miami Heat memorabilia, including game-worn NBA Finals jerseys, was stolen from the team’s Kaseya Center facilities.

Miami Heat Gear Worn By LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Shaquille O’Neal

Several millions of dollars’ worth of authenticated, game-worn Heat gear was reportedly stolen from a storage room inside Kaseya Center and sold.

A source close to the team said the game-worn gear belonged to high-profile players such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Shaquille O’Neal.

NBA insider and Meadowlark Media’s Amin Elhassan first reported the news of the investigation on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz this week.

“There is another federal investigation going on right now about the sale of ill-gotten memorabilia,” Elhassan said on the show. “This one concerns memorabilia — authenticated memorabilia — stolen from the Miami Heat, and sold for many, many, many, many, many millions of dollars. Perhaps one of the largest heists of this kind.

“What red-flagged it within the memorabilia community is you never see people with this much stuff. You might get a game-worn jersey, but to get a game-worn full set? NBA Finals? For multiple players? As it was described to me, this is one of the largest, if not the largest, memorabilia heists in the history of this country in any sport.”

Suspects Include Retired Miami Police Officer, Individual From California

According to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, one suspect who has been identified through the ongoing investigation is a retired Miami police officer who went on to work for the NBA’s security division.

“Another person of interest is an individual from California who might have purchased some of the stolen memorabilia and put it up for auction, the same source said,” Chiang wrote.

Chiang also added that the game-worn gear was being stored by the NBA franchise as “historical memorabilia that could have been used for the potential creation of a Heat Hall of Fame.”

Travis Nichols, who runs The Collector’s Club in Wynwood, told 7News just one game-worn NBA Finals jersey could sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“It was crazy, obviously. It’s a huge, huge thing to break, but at this point, I’m shocked it took this long for something that big to happen,” said Nichols.

“Memorabilia is moved into the asset class by a lot of financial institutions. It’s about time people start realizing that this stuff has money to it.”

The Heat won their first NBA title in 2006, led by Dwyane Wade, and took home back-to-back championships with LeBron James in the “Big Three” era in 2012 and 2013.