Disgruntled Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler broke his silence after he was suspended indefinitely on Monday, January 27, with an interesting clip from the ’90s show “Martin” which he posted on his Instagram account.
The video clip showed Martin Lawrence, whose character, Martin Payne, ribbing his friend in the sitcom, Tommy played by Thomas Mikal Ford for being jobless.
The Heat suspended Butler for the third time this season after he walked out of their team shootaround when it was announced he would come off the bench, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported.
“The Miami Heat are suspending Jimmy Butler without pay effective immediately for an indefinite period to last no fewer than five games,” the team said in its statement. 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.”
Butler has been butting heads with the Heat for weeks now since he requested a trade that has yet to be granted.
The Heat hasn’t found a trade to their liking.
Butler has already missed nine games due to suspensions — seven games due to conduct detrimental to the team and additional two games for missing the team flight to Milwaukee last week.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, Butler’s latest suspension will cost him $532,737 per game which will amount to $2,663,685 for the minimum five games, which will coincidentally ends after the Heat’s February 5 game against the Philadelphia 76ers, one day before the February 6 trade deadline.
The hope is Butler is out of Miami by that time and can no longer be a distraction to the Heat, who currently sit at eighth place in the Eastern Conference with a .500 record (22-22).
KOC Proposes 5-Team Trade to End Jimmy Butler-Heat Standoff
Yahoo Sports’ analyst Kevin O’Connor proposed a five-team mega-trade on his podcast “Kevin O’Connor Show” that wound end the Heat’s troubles with Butler and grant his wish to go to Phoenix.
Phoenix Suns receive: Jimmy Butler
Chicago Bulls receive: Bradley Beal + draft picks
Milwaukee Bucks receive: Zach LaVine
Miami Heat receive: Khris Middleton, Pat Connaughton + draft picks
Detroit Pistons receive: Bobby Portis
“A deal like that just feels like it makes sense,” O’Connor said. “It makes sense for everybody. The Heat get rid of Butler. Bucks upgrade from Middleton with his bad ankles to LaVine. Pistons get a versatile center for their front-court rotation in Portis. Suns get Butler. I think there’s something there, I really do, when you’re connecting all the dots.”
Butler wanted to head West, specifically to the Suns because the team’s owner, “Mat Ishbia is believed to be as willing to sign the 35-year-old to a lucrative new contract as anyone you’ll find,” veteran NBA insider Marc Stein reported on Substack on January 5.
But the problem is, the Heat are unwilling to absorb Beal’s enormous contract that will pay him $110 million over the next two years after this season.
Beal also holds the card in this hypothetical trade since he has a no-trade clause. But a reunion with Bulls coach Billy Donovan, Beal’s college coach, might entice the Suns star to waive his no-trade clause to go to Chicago.
The Beginning of the End to Jimmy Butler Era in Miami
Butler became disgruntled with the Heat after they did not offer him an extension last summer. It escalated after Heat president Pat Riley publicly admonished him for talking trash to eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics and fierce rivals New York Knicks after the Heat were eliminated.
“If I was playing, Boston would be at home. New York damn sure would be [expletive] at home,” Butler said on May 4.
Two days later, on May 6, Heat president Pat Riley admonished Butler during his end-of-season press conference.
“For him to say that, I thought, is that Jimmy trolling or is that Jimmy [being] serious?” Riley told reporters. “If you’re not on the court, playing against Boston, or you’re not on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut in your criticism of those teams.”
Riley dropped the bombshell at the time that they were not going to extend Butler before this season.
“We don’t have to do that for a year,” Riley said at the time. “And so, we have not discussed that internally right now, but we have to look at that, making that kind of commitment.”
