Making enemies from Chicago to Miami: every Jimmy Butler team controversy explained

Things have gone from bad to worse in South Beach as the Jimmy Butler saga upgraded from toxic to radioactive over the last couple of weeks. Butler was suspended indefinitely on Monday, and that might be his final chapter with the Miami Heat as the trade deadline approaches.

The end in sight in Miami

Butler is no stranger to dust ups within the locker room and with front offices, and they either seem to follow him, or he seems to follow them. This year’s trouble actually started last year when Butler reportedly didn’t show up to the Heat’s Christmas party that was hosted by Pat Riley and his wife, Chris. Riley confronted Butler about the no show, and the act of disrespect toward his wife who threw the party.

The came the 2024 postseason when Jimmy was sidelined for the first round of the playoffs, and the Heat got knocked out by Boston Celtics. Butler was later quoted saying if he was playing “Boston would be at home, and New York (Knicks) would damn sure be at home.” Heat team president Pat Riley, retorted by saying if Butler should “keep your mouth shut if you’re not playing.”

Things only got worse from there. Before the season started, rumors were swirling that Butler wanted out of Miami but he was in a Heat uniform to tip off the season. Reports of discontent from both parties carried on through the start of the season, and then Butler came out and said “I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball, wherever that may be - we’ll find out here pretty soon.” The Heat didn’t take too lightly to the comment and suspended his for seven games for conduct detrimental to the team. He was suspended again for missing a team flight earlier this month. And now the suspension for walking out of a team shoot around after the could be the end of Butler’s stay in South Beach.

Rise of a star, and start of a storm

This is nothing new for Butler or the teams that have had to deal with the talented but sometimes troubled star. He has run into turbulence everywhere he has gone, dating back to his days in Chicago with a Bulls team that drafted him out of the University of Marquette. After three years of maturing in the league he became an All-Star in year four, and that’s when the trouble started. The year after that, in the 15/16 season he had some issues with team veterans Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, and with Butler being the young, up and comer it was the veterans at the end of their career that were traded away from Chicago after the 2016 season.

Butler got into it with Bulls coach Frank Hoiberg that same year, calling him out after a bad stretch of games saying “You got to hold everyone accountable. Everybody has to do their job.”

After Rose and Noah were sent away, the Bulls brought in Dwayne Wade and Rajon Rando, but that led to friction between the aging stars and Butler who considered the Bulls to be his team. Chicago would finally cut ties with Butler in the 2017 offseason, sending him to Minnesota.

Trouble with T’Wolves

His time with the Timberwolves was short, but choppy to say the least. After coming to Minnesota on the heels of four straight All-Star appearances, he was the star of the team, but he wasn’t impressed by some of the younger stars of the team. There were murmurs of Butler’s unhappiness and even a statement after a regular season game in which he was quoted as saying “I’m glad we lost” after the T’Wolves got blown out by the Orland Magic.

Things got even more complicated when the T’Wolves were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs. Butler was a big part of that run to the postseason that broke a 13 year playoff dry spell in Minnesota. He got hurt for a big chunk of the end of the season, and the T’Wolves plummeted to the 8 seed heading into the playoffs.

Fresh off a first round exit, Minnesota offered Butler a four year extension but the star of the team turned it down wanting for a better deal. There were rumors swirling about Jimmy wanting to be traded out of Minnesota before the season started and then Jimmy lit into Timberwolves GM Scott Layden in a preseason scrimmage in which he beat the teams starters with a team full of bench players, letting him know, “You f***ing kidding me, Scott. You can’t win without me.” A month later he was traded to The 76ers in November.

Short Sixers stinit

Butler was traded to a Sixers team that had a dominant big man in Joel Embiid and the Rookie of the Year in 2018, Ben Simmson. Things were looking up in the City of Brotherly Love, but it didn’t take long for everything to go south in a hurry. Butler wasn’t happy with his role on the team and challenged coach Brett Brown, who he openly criticized when the cameras were on.

Butler had a great season despite his dust ups with the head coach, and helped lead the Sixers to the playoffs. They would eventually get knocked out of the playoffs by the Toronto Raptors, who would go on to win the NBA title, after a grueling seven game series in which Butler carried the Sixers. That would be the end of the Butler era in Philly.

In the 2019 offseason, Butler was up for a big money, multi-year contract worthy a reported $190 million for five years, but the Sixers decided to pay Tobias Harris $10 million less and ship Butler to Miami less than a year after bringing him to Philly.

Butler’s feud with Miami heating up

The Heat welcomed Butler knowing that he was still a big star, and could help a team that was looking to regain their relevance in the Eastern Conference. The Heat have gone to the playoffs every year since Jimmy Buckets has been with the Heat and have made two runs to the NBA Finals on the shoulders of Butler. One of those was in the Bubble back in 2020 when the Heat lost to the Lakers, and then in 2023 when they played the Nuggets following a spectacular postseason from Butler.

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Since that Finals appearance things have gone down hill. There was the Chirstmas party Butler said he “feel asleep” for. Then the injury that kept him out of the first round series against the Celtics last year. After that came the comments from Pat Riley about Butler shutting his mouth if he’s not playing. Now here we are. A few months, and a handful of suspensions into the season. It looks like there is no other way out of this situation than to part ways.

The trade deadline is February 6th, and there are more than a couple teams interested in the 35 year old’s services. The Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets are the front runners and there is sure to be plenty of speculation about where Butler’s next destination will be.