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The Miami Heat made it to the NBA Finals in the infamous bubble season back in 2020, but since then, they’ve experienced another heartbreaking finals loss, and last season, they got crushed in the first round after being an eighth seed.
Needless to say, the team’s star player, Jimmy Butler, hasn’t been happy with the team’s 17-15 performance this season either, and he recently got pretty vocal about it.
It began when he spoke with the media after his nine-point performance in the Heat’s 128-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers Thursday night.
“I want to see me getting my joy back playing basketball. Wherever that may be, we’ll find out here pretty soon,” Butler said. “I’m happy here off the court, but I want to be back to somewhat dominant; I want to hoop, and I want to help this team win, and right now, I’m not doing it.”
He was then point-blank asked if he could regain that joy while playing in South Florida, to which he responded, “Probably not.”
Now, ESPN insider Shams Charania has confirmed the writing on the wall; Butler has officially requested a trade from the Heat. He hasn’t given team brass a list of desired destinations but just wants out of Miami, believing he can bolster any other team to make a deep run into the playoffs with Championship hopes.
Butler’s relationship with the team’s front office has been fractured, but the last straw appears to be that they thought he didn’t play hard enough in the team’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans Wednesday, where he only dropped nine points through three quarters.
“I’m going out there to compete either way; whether I score nine points or 29 points, I will compete,” Butler said Thursday night, addressing the murmurings. “You won’t say I’m not out there playing hard.”
Butler’s time in Miami was successful, with two Finals appearances and a conference finals loss, but according to ESPN, things after comments made following last season’s first-round loss, in which Butler didn’t play because he was nursing a knee injury.
In an interview, he said that if he’d been healthy, they’d have beaten the Celtics instead of the 4-1 outcome of the series.
Though it seemed like Butler’s typical competitive nature, the comment wasn’t appreciated by team president Pat Riley when he addressed it in the season-ending media interview, saying, “If you’re not on the court playing, you should keep your mouth shut.”
The Heat have toyed with the idea of trading Butler, but early talks have not progressed. Things might change now that Butler’s put in an official request,
See how social media is reacting to Butler’s decisions below.