The South Beach Saga of Jimmy Butler continues to play out as the disgruntled star has been suspended indefinitely.
Butler walked out of the Heat’s shootaround on Monday morning after he had been informed he would not be in the starting lineup moving forward and that prompted the latest ban by the team.
The suspension, due to “a continued pattern of disregard of team rules, engaging in conduct detrimental to the team and intentionally withholding services,” would be a minimum of five games, the team announced, which would mean Butler would be away from the team through the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline.
The new turn comes after Butler had already been suspended twice by the team in recent weeks, with the team citing a “insubordinate conduct and conduct detrimental to the team” that included missing a team flight when they handed him a two-game ban last Wednesday.
Butler missed nine of Miami’s last 12 games but was expected to be available against the Magic, who are slated to face the Heat at Kaseya Center.
Butler requested to be traded earlier this month following growing speculation he wanted to be elsewhere.
The Heat had initially issued a statement denying they were open to trading away Butler, but had to do an about-face roughly a week later and declared they were willing to listen to trade offers.
When Butler returned from his first suspension — a seven-game ban — he told reporters that “sooner or later the whole truth will come out.”
“There was a lot said by everybody, except for me, to tell you the truth,” Butler said on Jan. 17. “So we’ll let people keep talking like they know everything, like they have all the answers. And then sooner or later the whole truth will come out.
“But until then, we’ll continue to let people talk, and if I’m here, I will get out there and play.”
It may be a while before we see that happen again — at least in a Heat uniform.