Butler unmoved by emotions, drama before facing Heat in Miami return

MIAMI – There was no turning back. Warriors star Jimmy Butler stated Monday after practice at Barry University, one day before his first game back in Miami against his former team, the Heat, that even if he and team president Pat Riley sat down immediately after last season and he was offered a contract extension, he still would have wanted to eventually move on. 

Butler, who turned 35 years old in September, knew which direction he wanted to go in his career. He also had an indication of where the Heat were headed after their first-round NBA playoff exit without him.

The Heat suspended Butler three times during the 2024-25 NBA season before trading him to the Warriors on Feb. 6, and some bills still are being sent his way. 

When, and if, Butler sees Riley on Tuesday at the Kaseya Center, anger won’t be his first emotion. No animosity. No frustration. 

Nothing, according to Butler. 

“I don’t got no thoughts,” Butler said. “I won’t say nothing. I got nothing to say to nobody. No hard feelings. I’m in a better place now for me. Continued success to those guys over there.” 

None of this is new to Butler. Tuesday won’t be the first time he plays a former team. It’ll be the fourth. This just feels heightened because of the success Butler had in Miami, leading the Heat to three Eastern Conference finals and two NBA Finals, as well as how his departure once again was surrounded by drama. 

He has maintained his first game back at his old arena will be nothing more than another game on the schedule, continuing to show his love for Heat fans. 

Staying stuck in the past is a decision Butler refuses to let himself sink into and be a part of. Let the outside speculate. The 14-year NBA veteran knows the legacy he made in Miami and that it can never be taken away. 

“This is basketball,” Butler said. “It’s very simple. I don’t have all the emotions everyone thinks I’m going to have. It is what it is. I realize that I had some great years here. I built some incredible bonds with some individuals within the organization, in this city – hell, in the state of Florida. But I’m going there to hoop. I’m going there to play basketball.

“Ain’t nothing nobody say, ain’t nothing nobody do is finna get me out of character. Ain’t nobody got me out of character when I was going through what I was going through this entire season with the suspensions. It’s just another day for me.” 

There might be boos from Heat fans. There might be derogatory signs. None of it will bother Butler, or so he says. 

“I wonder if they look at the Heat the same way,” Butler said. “Ain’t like I was the one that was doing everything. It’s gotta be 50/50. Maybe 51/49 – 49 towards them and 51 towards me. There’s no way that I was the cause of all of this.”

Butler spent the first six years of his career with the Chicago Bulls, going from being the last pick in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft to becoming a star. The end wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t pretty. He then spent one full season playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but a chaotic ending saw him sent to the Philadelphia 76ers less than a month into the next season. 

The 76ers fell one wild Kawhi Leonard shot short of reaching the conference finals that season, but how Butler left again wasn’t without controversy. His Heat exit this season has been retold time and time again. 

“I’m always painted as the bad guy,” Butler said. “Everywhere I've been I’ve always been the problem. We’ll take it. I don’t got nothing to say. I’m not mad at being a bad guy. It’s all the way that everything gets portrayed. Some people talk to the media, some people don’t. I’ve never been one to tell my side of the story to almost anybody. 

“Let everybody think that this is what happened, and we’ll ride with it. Then in like a year’s time it’s going to be somebody else’s fault besides myself.” 

Warriors coach Steve Kerr bore witness to perhaps the worst version of a homecoming when Kevin Durant was a member of Golden State and went back to Oklahoma City to play the Thunder for the first time. 

“Yeah, that was maybe the most emotional return game I’ve ever been a part of,” Kerr said. “It kind of got ugly, really. It was important for our guys to go to bat for Kevin and they all did. It was nice to get that behind us when it happened. 

“There’s just going to be games like this in the NBA season because of the emotion involved in sports. You handle them when they come and you just support your teammate and then you move forward.”

Kerr has no doubt the Warriors will play highly motivated for Butler. He also doesn’t sense any distraction getting in Butler’s way.

“It’ll be a charged atmosphere,” Kerr said. “I’m sure it’ll be emotional on many levels. I know Jimmy’s just going to lock in and play, and he’s very capable of that. But there’s no getting around the fact of what he meant to this team, this organization, this city. That will come out tomorrow. 

“It’s part of sports. It’s kind of what makes sports, too, is the emotional connection that everyone has with players and teams. So you get these nights that can be tricky. I know Jimmy will handle it well. I know our guys will handle it well.” 

Since the Butler trade, the Warriors and Heat have gone in opposite directions. Golden State is 16-4 since Butler made his team debut, and one of those losses was with him in street clothes. Miami, meanwhile, is 5-16 since the trade, beating the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday to snap a 10-game losing streak. 

There has been debate surrounding a possible Butler tribute video being played during Tuesday’s game. The expectation is any pettiness will be put to the side, and the Heat will honor one of the franchise’s all-time greats. 

Butler will watch if the jumbotron displays his many past highlights in a Heat jersey. And he’ll remain unmoved if the Heat opt out of doing so. 

“If they don't, it makes no difference,” Butler says. “It really don't."

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