Erik Spoelstra to Heat: Move on from Jimmy Butler’s suspension

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Jimmy Butler stands on the ground in the 2nd half

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra shared a message with his team after another suspension for star forward Jimmy Butler, who will miss the next two-game road trip to Milwaukee and Brooklyn due to missing a team flight.

“The point I made to our team is get used to it,” Spoelstra said after Thursday’s shootaround. “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.”

The Heat suspended Butler on Wednesday for what they called a “continued pattern of disregard of team rules, insubordinate conduct, and conduct detrimental to the team, including missing Wednesday’s team flight to Milwaukee.” This is just the latest issue in a long-running situation between the Heat and their frustrated star.

Before Spoelstra’s media session, a Heat PR official told reporters that Spoelstra would not answer questions about Butler, a policy that had been in place for several weeks following the first suspension.

Butler had just returned last Friday from a seven-game suspension for “multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team.” He played three games, averaging 13 points in 29 minutes per game, before receiving the latest two-game suspension, which means the Heat will be without him in Milwaukee on Thursday.

Jimmy Butler walks on the court after the game

“It takes mental fortitude and commitment in terms of the task at hand,” Spoelstra said. “Nothing changes in terms of the task at hand. We have a game tonight, we know what our identity is now. You can make any excuse, but we get to do what we love.”

“We’ve had this happen all season long, so we know the drill and what we need to do to make those adjustments.”

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Butler wants to be traded, and sources told ESPN on Friday that the Heat are looking to accommodate Butler’s request. The NBA trade deadline is set for February 6.

When asked about the Butler situation, Heat guard Tyler Herro said, “We all know everything that’s going on. 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,” Herro said Thursday. “We love Jimmy; we’d love for him to be here. I love Jimmy.”

By Ritik

Ritik Katiyar is pursuing a post-graduate degree in Pharmaceutics. Currently, he lives in Srinagar, Uttarakhand, India. You can find him writing about all sorts of listicle topics. A pharmaceutical postgrad by day, and a content writer by night. You can write to him at [email protected]

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