MIAMI — The Miami Heat are planning to build a new museum inside the Kaseya Center, where the team plays, according to Local 10 sources familiar with the project and a federal court filing made public on Tuesday.
Sources told Local 10 that the planned museum would be located in the space inside the arena which is the current home of the 601 Miami restaurant, though the team has yet to make an official announcement.
Hints of the project surfaced in a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, in which authorities revealed that the Heat had stored hundreds of pieces of memorabilia in a secured equipment room for use in “a future Miami Heat museum.”
That revelation came as part of the case against Marcos Thomas Perez, a former Heat security officer accused of stealing and selling more than 400 game-worn jerseys and other team memorabilia valued in the millions.
Perez, 62, a retired Miami police officer, worked for the Heat from 2016 to 2021 and later as an NBA security employee through 2025.
Federal investigators allege that while working game-day security at the arena, Perez used his limited access to the Heat’s secure equipment room to steal items over several years, including jerseys worn during NBA Finals games.
Between 2020 and 2023, Perez is accused of selling more than 100 stolen items online, generating an estimated $2 million in sales, often at prices well below market value to avoid detection, according to investigators
In one example, authorities say he sold a game-worn LeBron James NBA Finals jersey for roughly $100,000. That same jersey later fetched $3.7 million at a Sotheby’s auction.
Local 10 reached out to the Heat for comment on Wednesday afternoon about the museum plan, but has not yet heard back from the team.
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