The Miami Heat suspended Jimmy Butler for a second time this month on Wednesday, electing to keep the star out two more games after he missed a team flight to Milwaukee, ESPN reported.
Butler, who is in the midst of a legal battle with his baby mama, already served a seven-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team, as the Heat went 3-4 from January 4 to 15.
The six-time All-Star had requested a trade, saying his relationship with the team had soured beyond repair.
After Butler missed five games in December with an illness, the team was not satisfied with his level of play upon his return and enacted the seven-game suspension for conduct that had become an issue ‘over the course of the season and particularly the last several weeks.’
At the time, Butler said he ‘probably’ would never be content playing for the Heat again, but he returned from his suspension January 17 and averaged 13.0 points with 3.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists as the team went 1-2.
On the season, Butler has averaged 17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists.
The Miami Heat are suspending Jimmy Butler for two games after he missed a team flight
According to the report, Butler was a no-show for the team’s flight in advance of a game against the Bucks on Thursday.
Butler will now miss the game at Milwaukee as well as one Saturday at Brooklyn.
At the time that Butler’s original desire to be traded was known, Heat president Pat Riley said the team was not going to trade one of its top players.
After the first suspension was handed out, Riley said the team was willing to listen to trade offers.
Last week, Butler and his baby mama agreed to settle their differences in private, DailyMail.com revealed.
The Heat forward, 35, filed papers last month asking a Miami judge to slap down ex-girlfriend Kaitlin Nowak’s demand for a $10,000-per-month nanny.
Butler insisted the $55,000 he pays his former flame every month in child support is more than enough to meet the needs of their three kids Rylee, Brayan, and Kian, according to the court filings published by DailyMail.com in December.
But on January 10 he withdrew his motion for temporary relief, indicating in a court filing that the pair had instead entered into ‘ongoing settlement discussions.’
It came after DailyMail.com revealed he was secretly embroiled in a year-long paternity battle that went unreported because a Miami judge agreed to seal the records.
Last week, Butler and his baby mama Kaitlin Nowak agreed to settle their differences in private
That changed last month when Butler’s attorney filed a scathing court motion calling on Nowak, 34, to explain how she spends the ‘tremendous’ sums of money her ex gives her.
The filing further noted Nowak’s alleged ‘refusal’ to get a job – adding: ‘It must be pointed out that the father and mother were never married.
‘Mother is not entitled to live as if she is married to a National Basketball Association (NBA) player.’
Butler and Nowak began dating in 2019 but kept their relationship largely under wraps despite him being one of the best-known athletes on the planet.
