Burnie is the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

of the Miami Heat, the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team. Burnie is a rough, anthropomorphic depiction of the fireball featured on the team's logo.

Appearance

The Burnie costume is a full-body suit. The body is orange fur, with orange feathers for hair. The "nose" is a green basketball. Burnie wears number 0 (or 00) for the Heat, typically in a black uniform, although he has also worn the Heat's red and white jerseys during playoff promotions. He also sometimes wears a white team

T-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...

. During the

2012 NBA Playoffs The 2012 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2011–12 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat defeating the Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thu ...

, in accord with the team's "White Hot Playoffs" theme, Burnie's costume temporarily changed to an all-white version of the same suit, with black trim around the jersey's text.

Legal problems

Burnie was sued in 1994 during an

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. Burnie selected a woman from the audience, dragged her by the feet, and danced on the court with her during a time-out. The woman turned out to be the wife of a federal judge. The woman pulled away from Burnie and fell. Burnie faced 20 years in jail after being charged with aggravated

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

and

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

. Burnie was also sued prior for US$1 million due to the emotional distress the woman went through. The media ridiculed the case, and she appeared several times on late-night television. The case was settled for $50,000. Burnie's hijinks also led to another lawsuit in March 2015 and March 2017. On both occasions, people were injured by Burnie while he was performing. The same lawyer represented the two clients on the two occasions and both cases were settled. Both agreements remain confidential.

References

External links

Burnie Report
Miami Heat National Basketball Association mascots {{Miami-stub