The Jimmy Butler situation in Miami is turning uglier by the day and insider Shams Charania has shed light on where everything currently stands.
“This has turned into, really, an ugly, bitter, any word you want to use, end, a divorce to a relationship that overall has been pretty successful,” said Shams. “You think about the last five years for Jimmy Butler: three appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals, two of which were NBA Finals runs and right now this is a situation where the Heat are putting their foot down on a lot of the stuff…
“Jimmy Butler has traveled separately away from the team in the past before at times and he was planning to do the same thing yesterday, joining the team in Milwaukee last night instead of going on the team flight. So he tells the team that he’s going to fly separately on a on private charter and he will join the team of Milwaukee, but before he even got a chance to do so, I’m told, the Heat called him and informed him to stay home. That they don’t want him there and they were suspending him for two games on this quick two game road trip that they have. And they’ll play again in Miami next week. But where the situation is at is it’s untenable.”
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is trying not to let the whole situation disrupt his team and he delivered a blunt message to his player in the wake of another suspension Butler, after he missed a team flight.
“The point that I made to our team is get used to it,” Spoelstra said. “Get over it. This is the NBA life; this is the life we chose. If you think it’s going to be predictable, you’re really mistaken.”
Heat star Tyler Herro was asked about the Butler drama.
“We all know everything that’s going on,” Herro said. Not much to talk about.”
“It’s probably not the easiest to work with someone who’s going to be in and out in any job. We love Jimmy; we’d love for him to be here. I love Jimmy.”
READ MORE: Coach K’s Honest Injury Advice to Zion Williamson