Jimmy Butler‘s soon-to-be former Miami Heat teammates Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro weighed in on his controversial postgame comments, which could be his final interview as their teammate.
“Think it’s a bad night all around,” Adebayo told reporters on Butler’s comments following their Heat’s 128-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers on January 2. “Lose the game, obviously, he’s frustrated. He feels like he’s standing in the corner, so he’s got a lot of things going on in his corner.”
Butler’s frustration reached its boiling point after he got benched for the entire fourth quarter for the second straight game.
“I want to see me getting my joy back playing basketball,” Butler told reporters. “Wherever that may be, we’ll find out here pretty soon.
“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.”
When asked if he can get his joy back on the court with the Heat, Butler responded meaningfully: “Probably not.”
Herro was lost for words when asked to comment about Butler’s angst-filled postgame interview.
“I don’t even know [what to say],” Herro told reporters. “We’re all trying to find our joy in it at the same time. So, we’ll see.”
Shortly after what could be Butler’s final interview as a member of the Heat organization, ESPN reported that the six-time NBA All-Star has already asked for a trade out of Miami.
The Heat confirmed the report on January 3 with a bombshell announcement they are suspending Butler for seven games due to “multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team over the course of the season and particularly the last several weeks.”
How The Heat Go From Here
Butler will start serving his suspension on the Heat’s January 4 home game against the Utah Jazz. Their next six games after that are on the West Coast.
With Butler away from the team, Adebayo takes it for what it is — life moves on as the games keep on coming.
“For us, keep the main thing like our coach always tells, ‘We play to win,’ and that’s what it’s all about,” Adebayo told reporters.
The Heat are currently sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with a 17-15 record, tied with the Emirates NBA Cup champion Milwaukee Bucks.
Adebayo is trying to take away the emotion from this distraction born out of Butler’s frustrations over Heat president Pat Riley’s sharp comments and his reluctance to offer him an extension this past offseason.
“How else are you going to do? We go out there and play basketball still,” Adebayo told reporters. “It’s it’s still our job. It’s still what pays our family, takes care of our family, takes care of a lot of us. So, we can’t slow down. We have to figure out how to win games and push through.”
Jimmy Butler Wants to Play Anywhere Than Miami
The ESPN report added Butler “does not plan to furnish the Heat with a list of favored destinations” after an earlier report suggested he listed four teams — Houston, Dallas, Golden State and Phoenix — as his preferred win-now destinations.
“Six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler has indicated to the Miami Heat he wants the team to trade him, league sources told ESPN,” Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst reported. “Butler does not plan to furnish the Heat with a list of favored destinations, sources told ESPN. He is open to playing anywhere other than Miami and believes he can make any team a contender — no matter where he is moved.”
But moving Butler and his $48.7 million contract is easier said than done under the new, restrictive NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement as “nearly a third of teams not allowed to take back more salary in a trade,” according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
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Jimmy Butler’s Final Heat Interview Gets Blunt & Telling Reactions From Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro