On Friday, the Miami Heat handed a seven-game suspension to star forward Jimmy Butler for “conduct detrimental to the team” amid ongoing drama about his future.
Before the punishment was handed down, there were conflicting claims on the topic of a suspension. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Butler’s camp told people that the Heat threatened to suspend him following his Wednesday showing against the New Orleans Pelicans. However, per Jackson, the Heat called that claim false.
Even though Butler camp has been telling people that Heat threatened to suspend him after Pelicans game, Heat is insistent that's BS and that never happened
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) January 3, 2025
The dynamic of the entire Butler situation changed when the Heat actually did suspend him on Friday, and it led to some people feeling like the team probably did indeed threaten to suspend him after his performance against the Pelicans. But according to Jackson, the team is still claiming that Butler was never threatened with a suspension before his conduct Thursday night.
As Heat conveyed, he was informed today about suspension after his startling comments last night and was never threatened before his conduct late last night. Surprised you didn't know that.
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) January 4, 2025
The conduct in question likely refers to Butler’s postgame comments on Thursday, which preceded an ESPN report about the veteran wanting a trade.
"Probably not."
—Jimmy Butler when asked if he could get his joy back in Miami. pic.twitter.com/5gahEJxWM7
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 3, 2025
BREAKING: Jimmy Butler has indicated to the Miami Heat he wants to be traded, per @ESPN
— Heat Nation (@HeatNationCom) January 3, 2025
When the Heat suspended Butler, they cited “multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team over the course of the season and particularly the last several weeks.”
The NBA world seemingly had a right to question whether Butler was giving it his all on Wednesday in his first contest back after a five-game absence. After all, the forward didn’t even reach double digits in scoring against the Pelicans.
He finished with only nine points on five shot attempts from the floor. Butler didn’t contribute much in other facets of the game either, considering he ended up with four rebounds and a pair of assists.
Butler then followed up his nine-point showing with a similarly lackluster performance in what might go down as his last game ever played in a Heat uniform. He once again scored fewer than 10 points on Thursday, and Miami lost to the Indiana Pacers by double digits behind a 33-point, 15-assist performance from Indiana star guard Tyrese Haliburton.
The Heat’s phones may start to get busy with Butler now seemingly available for trade. He is one of the better playoff performers of his generation and could very well be the missing piece to a team’s championship puzzle this season.
Butler will serve the first game of his seven-game suspension for the Heat when the team faces off against the Utah Jazz on Saturday. The Jazz have lost five games in a row and eight of their last 10.
