Today marks the day that Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler–who demanded a trade away from the organization and doubling down on it–returns to the hardwood, two weeks after a team-sanctioned seven-game suspension for multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team.
No trade ultimately materialized over that span, and all indications point to the 35-year-old suiting up for the Heat in their turquoise, pink and white Miami Vice uniforms Friday. How he plays will be a question when those particular situations arise.
Though according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, not everyone in the organization wants Butler back in the fold.
“Teammates, coaches and staffers have already grown weary, sources said,” Shelburne reported Friday. “While Heat sources say they expect Butler to return Friday against the Nuggets and are fully prepared for him to play, there remains a palpable dread at what he might do and the environment the ongoing chaos might create. ‘I don’t know how he can come back to this locker room,’ one source close to the team said. Said another, ‘We don’t want him back.’
“If history — like, say, in Minnesota in 2018 — serves as precedent, the discomfort could deepen, quickly. ‘Jimmy hasn’t even really started,’ said one source close to Butler.”
One could argue that the organization may be at fault, in retrospect, for letting Jimmy Butler be too comfortable in his own skin because they knew what the fallout could look like regardless. The six-time All-Star has exited three organizations in an unfruitful manner previous to his six-year successful tenure with the Heat–where he rehabilitated his image.
Shelburne mentioned Butler missing Christmas parties, trolling on NBA Media Day and privately flying out to different locations on road trips, including staying 30 miles away from the team hotel in a mansion during the NBA Finals in Boulder, Colo.
“‘That is not common at all,’ one Western Conference GM said. ‘A superstar might stay at a different hotel but not at a mansion 30 miles away.’,” Shelbourne noted.
“Butler did little to hide his unusual arrangement — even posting photos from a Van Leeuwen ice cream shop in Boulder to his ever-buzzing Instagram account during the Finals.
“‘We let Jimmy do more than we ever let LeBron or DWade or Zo do,’ one team source said.’
“Privately, alumni and staffers started to express concern at how much leeway the Heat were giving Butler. But nobody dared speak publicly after he led the team to two Finals appearances in four years.”
Regardless, the last several weeks have been ugly for everyone involved. It’s an ugly divorce for what was viewed as a perfect marriage for a half-decade.
And who’s to say that it won’t get any worse over the next 20 days before the 2024-25 NBA Trade Deadline? Butler and Pat Riley, for better or worse, are two hard-headed, stubborn, prudent individuals who know what they want … and it’s not each other anymore.
All of this hovers over the Heat’s head while they’re the No. 8 seed in the East (again) at 20-19. These next three weeks could be consequential not only for Butler’s future, but Miami’s as well–in both the short- and long-term.
***
To check out our other content, click here.
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/X here!
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
So, I was under the impression that Jimmy was experiencing a deeply personal transition over that period of time–which would have included that finals run.
So what’s the point of Shelburne’s reporting? If she’s being given half truths, those giving them to her know what they aren’t telling the full story.
I doubt any of us would offer some amount of self reflection of put in this position. Because that kind of support–as a person losing someone–isn’t transactional. If someone suggested I was selfish *because* they supported me while I was going through such a transition I wouldn’t mess with them anymore. I doubt anyone on this board would think differently.
And I never thought of the Miami Heat as an organization that would act in such a manner either. Riley’s chastisement at the end of 2023 didn’t strike me as crossing such a line. So this is different.
Reports are the Raptors want to get involved in facilitating a Jimmy trade. Could this be the start of some 4-5 team deal? lol