The Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler had one of the ugliest franchise-player splits earlier this season, but the Golden State Warriors reaped the benefits. Butler forced his way out of Miami, and the Heat helped their star out by trading him to the Warriors at February’s deadline.
Butler was handed multiple suspensions from the Heat ahead of the blockbuster trade, and left a bad taste in many NBA fans’ mouths with the dramatic breakup.
Butler has found a good home with Golden State, but his ugly departure from the Heat will always be remembered.
Jimmy Butler walked out of Heat shootaround this morning after being informed the team is planning not to start him — with Haywood Highsmith starting — moving forward, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/8I31eT524l
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 27, 2025
Heat legend and Hall of Fame guard Dwyane Wade got honest about Butler’s situation in Miami, per Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang.
“You understand that relationships come to an end. A six-year relationship is a long time for a lot of people. So it’s OK that their relationship needed to come to an end. It’s just sometimes it doesn’t always have to be so nasty or ugly.
“I just wanted to make sure that I voiced my opinion. I knew there was smoke. I think I was very clear with my message when I had the time to speak during my statue moment. That was a moment that was about me and I took the moment to talk to the team, and tell them who Pat Riley is and who this organization is.”
“And I knew if everything did not get on the right line, some [stuff] was going to go down. I felt that at that time and that’s why I said that message. Everybody wasn’t in attendance, but the message went out loud. I had a feeling because I knew enough and obviously I have relationships.
“Ultimately, the relationship needed to end, which it did. It’s just sometimes there has to be a better way that we can handle things, whether it’s the player or our front office. We just got to do a better job because this is a part of our history.”
Butler certainly needed a fresh start with a new organization, and getting paired with Steph Curry and Draymond Green was the perfect situation for the disgruntled Heat star.
