Recent rumors and even words from the horse’s mouth have indicated that Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler no longer wants to play for the Heat.
The idea that Butler wants to move on from the Heat does not sit well with former NBA star Charles Barkley. Barkley thinks Butler hasn’t in fact lost his joy for the game of basketball and is giving the Heat such a hard time simply because the squad hasn’t handed him a contract extension.
Barkley spoke about the topic with the “Inside the NBA” crew, including fellow NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal.
“This is all about money,” Barkley said. “So don’t tell me he lost no joy, all this. He wants a long-term contract. … He’s gonna make $55 million next year. … You have a contract, Shaq. You don’t get to say, ‘Unless you extend me I’m just gon’ quit playin’.'”
O’Neal noted that Butler actually hasn’t threatened to stop playing, so Barkley responded.
“Well he say he ain’t got joy anymore,” Barkley said. “I bet he’d get joy if he gave him three more years.”
Butler commented about his “joy” earlier this month.
Butler is making around $49 million this season — or was going to before being handed a suspension that will cost him some of that money. He has a player option worth around $52 million for next season which he’s reportedly been planning on declining in order to hit free agency.
Barkley explained that players shouldn’t feel entitled to large contracts once they’re out of their primes.
“I don’t understand why we as players, we’ve all been fairly compensated in our career — all of us,” he said. “The notion that once you’re past your prime, they gotta keep payin’ you top dollar, I don’t think that’s right. They have paid him — he’s makin’ $50 million this year.”
A report from The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie a few days back indicated that it isn’t a guarantee that the Heat will trade Butler prior to the February trade deadline. It may be possible that the Heat end up keeping him around until the season comes to an end.
Butler has already served three games of a seven-game suspension that the Heat handed him following his comments after a lackluster performance against the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 2.
In the first game of Butler’s suspension, the Heat looked like they missed his presence massively. Miami lost to the lowly Utah Jazz by more than 30 points and was out of sorts on both sides of the ball.
But since that embarrassing showing against Utah, Miami has fared much better in each of its last two contests. First, the Heat nearly picked up a road win over a hot Sacramento Kings team on Jan. 6, as Miami lost the contest in double overtime.
More recently, the Heat snapped their losing streak when they took on Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 7.
Miami earned its 18th win of the campaign behind valuable scoring contributions from several players. Five members of the Heat reached double digits in scoring, and third-year pro Nikola Jovic led the way with 20 points while shooting 8-of-17 from the floor and knocking down a pair of 3s.
Miami has no game scheduled for Wednesday but will have a chance to get revenge against the Jazz on Thursday night.