MIAMI (AP) — Jimmy Butler was back from suspension. Again.
And then Butler got suspended by the Miami Heat. Again.
Butler has been suspended for the third time this month by the Heat, this one starting basically just as the second one was ending. The team said Butler left Monday's morning shootaround practice early, in advance of a game against the Orlando Magic — something the team called “intentionally withholding services.” The suspension is without pay and indefinite for now, with the team saying it will last at least five games.
Butler was expected to come back from his second suspension on Monday — only to be suspended for a third time. Butler, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, was told during the shootaround that he was not going to be back in the starting lineup for that night's game against Orlando. He left the shootaround not long afterward, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not release that detail publicly.
“The Miami Heat are suspending Jimmy Butler without pay effective immediately for an indefinite period to last no fewer than five games,” read the team 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.”
Without Butler, the Heat rallied from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter and beat Orlando 125-119 in double overtime.
“What it means right now is just we proved to ourselves that we have a tremendous amount of grit," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "You know, and you gain confidence from that.”
Butler was suspended for Miami's most recent two games after missing a team flight to Milwaukee last week. He has now missed 15 of Miami's last 20 games, including 10 of the last 13 because of the suspensions — the first a seven-game ban for conduct that the team deemed detrimental, followed by the two-game suspension, and now the indefinite one.
Butler’s role going forward — starter or non-starter — was in some question even before the latest suspension was announced. Butler hasn’t come off the bench in a game since Jan. 27, 2017, exactly eight years ago Monday in a game against Miami when he and then-Chicago teammate Dwyane Wade criticized how the Bulls were playing.
Including playoffs, Butler has started in each of his last 560 appearances.
“It kind of feels normal now at this point," Heat guard Tyler Herro said at the morning shootaround when asked what it's like to have Butler available again after a suspension — those words coming a few hours before the latest suspension was announced. “Kind of is what it is, but nothing’s guaranteed. We’ve just got to be ready to roll with whatever cards we’re dealt tonight. We’ve just got to be ready to go.”
Butler wants a trade, and Miami is trying to comply. But moving Butler and his $48.8 million salary this season is likely going to be more complicated that it would have been in past seasons, largely because of the league's aprons — salary levels installed as part of the new collective bargaining agreement that restrict the ways bigger-spending teams can make certain moves.
It has been a saga that has lasted now for nearly two months and figures to come to a head — one way or another — over the next week and a half. The NBA’s trade deadline is Feb. 6. After Monday, there are only five games left for Miami before the deadline, raising the possibility that Butler will not play for the team again.
“We didn’t talk about anything today other than preparing for the Magic. ... We're just focusing on the task at hand,” Spoelstra said. "There’s no better place to be than just the present moment.”
The Heat next play at home on Wednesday against Cleveland. After that, they leave for a four-game trip to San Antonio, Chicago, Philadelphia and Brooklyn — that Nets game getting played on Feb. 7, one day after the deadline.
“For me, this shows that through all the noise and all the chaos, we can still win," Heat captain Bam Adebayo said after Monday's win. "We still can come together and be a great team.”
Butler has said repeatedly throughout this process that he still loves Miami, in the off-the-court sense.
“I love this city with everything that I have,” he said this weekend while appearing at a padel tournament that he co-chaired.
The issue, for him, is with the team. Butler became eligible last summer for a two-year, $113 million extension that the Heat have not offered him. Heat president Pat Riley said after last season that the team had reservations about such a deal since Butler has missed about one of every four Miami games since he joined the team.
Butler entered the season saying he was not upset about the extension not getting done. It appears that stance changed in recent weeks, and the team announced earlier this month that Butler asked for a trade — something he cannot do publicly by league rule.
Butler is averaging 17 points this season. He had one of the best statistical games in Heat history against Detroit on Dec. 16 — 35 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists.
In six appearances entering Monday since then, including one in which he departed in the first quarter with an illness, Butler is averaging 9.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists. He has also lost at least $3 million in salary — and counting, since this latest suspension is also without pay — since then because of the suspensions. The National Basketball Players Association has said it plans to appeal the first suspension, which means Butler could get some money back.
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Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
