On Tuesday, former Miami Heat star forward Jimmy Butler will make his return to Kaseya Center for the first time since he was traded from Miami to the Golden State Warriors around the trade deadline.
Butler is one of the more talented players ever to don a Heat jersey. During his Miami tenure, he earned a pair of All-Star appearances, three All-NBA nods and most importantly helped the Heat reach two NBA Finals and three Eastern Conference Finals.
With Butler’s return game imminent, his agent Bernie Lee issued a message.
“My hope is Tuesday is cathartic for everyone,” Lee said to the Miami Herald. “If you have some anger in your heart, get it out. Get it all out. But once that’s all released, my hope is we get to the next step, which is appreciation. Appreciation for a pretty incredible five years together.
“One unfortunate aspect of sports is the amount of change. Nothing ever stays the same and everything has a time limit. We hit ours, but once we get a bit of distance from the separation, what will hopefully remain is a really immense feeling of accomplishment and the profound connection Jimmy had with this city and community at large. He was the right person at the right time. And over time, I think more and more, we will all see and appreciate that.”
Lee should maybe expect quite a few fans in attendance on Tuesday to have lots of emotions after the manner in which Butler’s time with the Heat came to a close. Butler’s desire to move on from Miami became public knowledge well before the trade deadline, and the Heat suspended him multiple times in the weeks leading up to his departure.
Last month, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Butler feels like the Warriors are “better than any other organization he’s been a part of.”
Butler will try to prevent the Warriors from picking up their second consecutive loss when they take on his old team. Golden State is fighting to secure a high enough seed in the Western Conference standings to have home-court advantage in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs with 11 games left on its schedule.
The Warriors are currently in sixth place but are just two games back of fourth and three games back of third. They also only have a one-game cushion keeping them out of play-in territory, so they have a lot to play for.
While the Warriors have won 14 of their last 17 games played, the Heat have been reeling over the past several weeks. Miami just recently snapped a 10-game losing streak with a victory over a subpar Charlotte Hornets team and is well below the .500 mark on the season with a 30-41 record.
