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During the Miami Heat‘s game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, January 19, Jimmy Butler was ejected from the game for just the second time ever in his 10-year NBA career.
The five-time All-Star was tossed out with 2:28 left in the first half. After he got the foul call for a potential three-point play, Butler had some strong words with the referee, which caused him to get slapped with his first technical foul.
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However, the 32-year-old veteran then walked away from the ref, but he was still called for a second technical foul from the other referee — a puzzling call since Butler didn’t appear to do anything warranting the second foul call.
Afterward Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was visibly upset and made his opposition to the refs’ decision known. Before Butler was ejected, he was score four points, three rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
The Heat went into halftime with a slight 58-56 lead over the Trail Blazers. Once Butler exited the game, center Omer Yurtseven was sent in. Ultimately, Butler’s ejection didn’t derail the team.
Caleb Martin stepped up big time, scoring 28 points with eight rebounds. The Heat beat the Trail Blazers 104 to 92.
Twitter Has Strong Reactions to Butler’s Ejection
Following Butler’s ejection, Twitter blew up with viewers chiming in as to whether or not that second technical foul was deserved. While the general consensus was that his ejection was bogus, others believed Butler was at fault.
“I don’t care if a ref misses a call, there is no reason to be up in his face like that. That should always be an automatic ejection. Go call by the refs,” one commented on SportsCenter’s video, while another guy wrote, “Automatic Technical yes. But not automatic ejection. You tripping.”
However, other Twitter users called out the refs for being too sensitive.”You know these refs are soft, so why do you even test it?” one person tweeted. “Dude screamed in the ref’s face then kept chirping while walking away then got his 2nd tech. Jimmy gotta know better especially when they’re missing Lowry and Herro tonight.”
Another man tweeted, “The refs are destroying the game of basketball. Yes he deserved the FIRST technical but after that he walked off why in the world would you give him a second? Can he not have 30 seconds to calm down after the first technical? This is insane and the referees need to STOP!! #NBA.”
The Heat Were Already Short-Handed Entering Wednesday Night’s Game
With Butler out, the Heat once again needed to dig deep into their reserves. Earlier in the day, guard Tyler Herro, who’s the team’s leading scorer thus far this season, was ruled out due to health and safety protocols.
Losing both Butler and Herro is a huge blow to the Heat’s offense. During the Heat’s win against the Raptors on Monday night, Butler completed another triple-double, scoring 19 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Herro scored a team-high 23 points.
Kyle Lowry was out for his second consecutive game due to personal reasons. KZ Okpala was ruled out due to a wrist injury while Markieff Morris hasn’t played since November 8 due to whiplash. Two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo has yet to play in a game this season, and no return timetable has been officially revealed.
Thankfully, starting center Bam Adebayo was able to play on Wednesday night. He officially returned during Monday’s 10-99 win over the Toronto Raptors after missing 22 consecutive games after injuring his right thumb.
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