Yet now he faces one of the toughest challenges of his 57 years within the NBA scene as he tries to navigate keeping Butler calm after the small forward demanded to be traded and said he would rather play anywhere else that isn’t the Kaseya Center.
It seems as though the Heat will trade him, or will at least hear offers, but that wasn’t before they slapped the six-time All-Star with a seven-game ban without pay for multiple examples of “conduct detrimental to the team”.
That cost the 6ft 7in player around $3.7m dollars in salary and made it perfectly clear that he’s not above being sidelined if he cant control his ego, as he missed games against the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors and two games against the Utah Jazz.
He will still be sidelined for clashes against the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers as the Heat find themselves 19-17 and seventh in the Eastern Conference, and Riley said he has no regrets regarding the call.
