Heat reportedly suspending Butler two games for missing team flight
For the second time this month, the Heat have decided to suspend their star forward.
Jimmy Butler missed the Miami Heat's team flight.
Now he will miss the team's next two games.
The Heat intend to suspend Butler for two games for missing a team flight, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.
Butler did not travel on Miami's flight to Milwaukee on Wednesday ahead of the team's game against the Bucks on Thursday.
He reportedly was planning on flying to Milwaukee later, but will now be suspended for both games of a two-game trip that includes Saturday's contest against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Miami Heat are planning to suspend Jimmy Butler for two games, sources tell ESPN. Butler missed a team flight Wednesday and had plans to join the Heat tonight. Now Miami is keeping him home from its two-game road trip. pic.twitter.com/eABrZ8yv2k
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 22, 2025
This is the second suspension of the month for Butler, who had appeared in just three games since serving a seven-game ban issued on January 3 for detrimental conduct.
That ban was handed down one day after the 13-year veteran told reporters he was losing his passion for playing following the Heat's home loss to the Indiana Pacers.
When announcing the seven-game suspension, the Heat also said they would listen to trade offers for the disgruntled six-time All-Star.
That was an abrupt change from just a week earlier when Heat president Pat Riley publicly stated the team had no intention of trading Butler despite reports he wanted out of Miami.
If Miami chooses not to trade the 35-year-old Butler, the Heat run the risk of him leaving the team next summer as a free agent and would get nothing in return. He is eligible for an extension that would guarantee him $113million for the next two seasons.
A five-time All-NBA Defensive Team selection, Butler has twice led Miami to the NBA Finals, and he is averaging 17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 25 games this season, already having missed 17 of Miami's 42 games.
He was averaging 13.0 points, 5.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds in the three games since returning from his earlier ban.