Miami’s Jimmy ’emo’ Butler: A certified meme

MIAMI Heat All-Star player Jimmy Butler is now an official Internet meme after arriving at the NBA Media Day last week donning an “emo” look, complete with straightened hair and lip and eyebrow piercings.

Following the introduction of his dreadlocks last year, Butler debuted another famous hairstyle at the Miami Heat’s 2023 media day at Kaseya Center.

He appeared with straightened hair, painted fingernails, and piercings, marking the second year in a row that he used the event to debut a new style for the season.

“I feel like I’m very emotional right now,” Butler said to reporters. “This is my emo state, and I like this. This is me. This is how I’m feeling as of late.” 

When asked how he planned to go with his new look, he replied, “You never know how I’m going to wake up. This is how I feel today. We’ll see tomorrow. Tomorrow might be all yellow.”

Butler’s emo style will be featured in promotional images throughout the 2023-2024 NBA season, as he wore it on media day, when players talk to reporters and take official headshots.

After witnessing his friend rock his new style on media day, Miami Heat teammate Bam Adebayo couldn’t help but laugh about it.

Social media users were quick to make memes on Butler’s new look and couldn’t help but compare it to the hairstyles of early 2000s emo bands like Secondhand Serenade, Fall Out Boy, and Panic! at the Disco.

Of course, the Internet had some amusing and insightful things to say about the athlete’s new hairstyle, leading to memes. Here are some noteworthy X (formerly Twitter) posts: