Jimmy Butler's "Detrimental Conduct" with Heat Revealed

We're now learning the reasons why Jimmy Butler was suspended for seven games by the Miami Heat (aside from the fact that they wanted him away from the team while they tried their darnedest to trade him).

According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, Butler was M.I.A. in MIA for several practices, and pushed on getting private flights, separate from the rest of his teammates on the team charter.

Jimmy Butler reportedly skipped several morning shootarounds and would insist on taking flights separate from the rest of the team.

This is a what reportedly led to his 7 game suspension 👀

per @JakeLFischer pic.twitter.com/SeqEt0voZd
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) January 13, 2025

Fischer also reported that even Butler's close friend and fellow veteran Kyle Lowry grew "fatigued" by Butler's act when they were together in South Beach.

Sources say even Lowry, who remains as close away from the court as anyone to Butler, gradually grew fatigued by his teammate's headstrong tendencies on the floor. Now it's Pat Riley's front office that has shown it will no longer tolerate Butler's freestyling, announcing to the world on Jan. 3 that the six-time NBA All-Star has been suspended for ‘conduct detrimental to the team.’

It's thought that one of Butler's problems with the Heat, making him more ornery as the past couple of years have developed, is that even more of "his guys", like Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Caleb Martin were all allowed to leave the Heat as free agents over the past two summers, in addition to Lowry.

All of those players were key cogs on the Miami team that Butler helped lead to the NBA Finals in 2023.

"A lot of the reason for the success of the Miami Heat was the chemistry they had," a league source told Fischer.

"Those were [Butler's] guys," said another NBA source.

"You hate to see stuff like that happen with the history that we had and the run that we made and stuff there," Martin said after the recent suspension of Butler. Martin is now with the Philadelphia 76ers as a teammate of Lowry's.

The latest word has it that Butler is fully expected to re-join the Heat next week when his 7-game suspension is up. That should be fun. The drama could ramp up to a new level.