NBA Rumors: Jimmy Butler Felt Heat Tried to 'Alienate' Him with New Travel Protocols
The Miami Heat suspended Jimmy Butler three times this season before finally trading him, and the second one came, in part, because he missed a team flight to Milwaukee.
Apparently, Butler's travel schedule and arrangements with the team were a point of contention even before that suspension.
James Jackson, Sam Amick and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic published a detailed report Friday that shed light on the breakdown of the relationship between Butler and the Heat before they traded him to the Golden State Warriors.
Part of the report highlighted the travel issues, with sources telling The Athletic that Butler had an arrangement in place where he could fly separately from the team as long as he was granted permission by head coach Erik Spoelstra.
However, that arrangement was changed, which, according to the report, Butler believed was done "to alienate him."
The report explained that "Butler also routinely did not ride the team bus to practices or games on the road, using a rideshare instead that the team paid for until this season, and even stayed separately from the team on road trips on occasion.
However, sources close to Butler told The Athletic that team president Pat Riley changed the travel arrangement two months before the missed flight as a way of "asserting his dominance over the star forward."
According to the report, "this relationship was already on the rocks at that point with discomfort rising and Riley deciding in mid-November that he, and not Spoelstra, would make the final decision whenever Butler asked to fly separately from the team."
The suspension for the missed flight would not be the last.
Miami also suspended Butler a third time after he walked out of a team practice. Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix reported that the third suspension was a "needle mover" that pushed the team over the edge and further motivated it to trade Butler, even if it meant getting less back in return.
The Heat eventually moved him to the Warriors in a multiteam deal that saw Andrew Wiggins end up in Miami.
That means Butler will join Stephen Curry and Draymond Green and look to lead the Warriors to more consistency in the stretch run. Golden State is 25-26 and tied with the Sacramento Kings for the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament.
It also means Butler will have to figure out a new travel schedule with the Warriors.
