Heat suspend Jimmy Butler for ‘an indefinite period to last no fewer than five games’

By James Jackson, Sam Amick and Jon Krawczynski

The Miami Heat have suspended Jimmy Butler without pay for “an indefinite period to last no fewer than five games” after the forward walked out of the team’s shootaround Monday ahead of its game against the Orlando Magic.

(2/2) The suspension is due to a continued pattern of disregard of team rules, engaging in conduct detrimental to the team and intentionally withholding services. This includes walking out of practice earlier today.

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 27, 2025

This marks the third time in a month that Butler, who demanded a trade from the team earlier this month, has been suspended. Each of Butler’s suspensions has been due to some iteration of conduct detrimental to the team.

“We didn’t talk about anything today other than preparing for the Magic,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before Monday’s game. “I get it, what you guys all want right now — and I figure that’s why this media room is full right now. We’re trying to quiet all the noise. We’re just focusing on the task at hand. There’s no better place to be than just the present moment.”

The Heat (23-22) needed double overtime but rallied to beat the Magic 125-119 behind near triple-doubles from Tyler Herro (30 points, eight rebounds, 12 assists) and Bam Adebayo (26 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists). The loss was the sixth in seven games for the Magic (24-24).

“We’ve been in a lot of situations this past year — well, this year — so, I mean, it shows through all the noise and chaos, we can still win,” Adebayo said after the win. “We can still come together and be a great team and believe in one another and still compete because, at the end of the day, like I’ve said before, the game still gotta get played no matter what’s going on in the organization. We’ve still gotta play games, and they still expect us to win.”

The acrimony between Butler and the Heat franchise dates back to last summer when the parties failed to negotiate a contract extension. Since then, matters have escalated, as Butler has reportedly doubled down on his desire to play elsewhere while the Heat have taken their time in assessing the best trade to make after initially resisting the notion of dealing Butler at all ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline.

On Jan. 3, Butler was suspended seven games for conduct detrimental to the team. When Butler was slated to return to the Heat for a Jan. 17 home matchup against the Denver Nuggets, Spoelstra expressed no interest in addressing Butler’s situation or mentioning the star forward by name. Instead, when addressing Butler’s availability for that game, Spoelstra alluded to using the starting lineup he used in the last game Butler played in before his seven-game ban. That suspension came after Butler expressed frustration over his reduced role with the Heat, saying that he had lost his joy for playing basketball. Butler lost almost $2.5 million in salary during his first suspension.

After Miami’s 133-113 loss to the Nuggets once Butler returned, he said he had no problems with his teammates and that the “truth would eventually come out,” in regard to speculation about his future and the reason for his discontent with the team. During this months-long beef, Butler’s desired trade destinations have varied, but the Phoenix Suns have reportedly been his preferred landing spot. Bradley Beal’s no-trade clause has held up any potential move to accommodate a trade to Phoenix, The Athletic previously reported.

As tensions continue to fester, onlookers from many vantage points have shared their thoughts on the deteriorating relationship between Butler, the Heat and team president Pat Riley, including three-time NBA champion and 2006 NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade, who shared his thoughts on the matter during a podcast on the Wy Network, a digital platform he owns.

Required reading

(Photo: Megan Briggs / Getty Images)