JIMMY BUTLER has been suspended by the Miami Heat after publicly slamming the team.
Butler, 35, all but confirmed he wanted out of the franchise with a cryptic comment earlier this week.
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Trade rumours surrounding Butler have been widespread following a bombshell report on Christmas Day claiming he was looking for a move to one of four rival franchises.
Butler made this abundantly clear in a Thursday press conference, saying: “I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball. Wherever that may be, we’ll find out pretty soon.
“I’m happy here off the court, but I want to be back to someone dominant. I want to hoop and I want to help this team win.”
He added that he did not believe he could get his joy back in Miami.
And the scathing comments have led to him now being SUSPENDED by the Heat, who declared he had “shown he no longer wants to be part of this team”.
A team statement on social media said: “We have suspended Jimmy Butler for seven games for multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team over the course of the season and particularly the last several weeks.
“Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team.
“Jimmy Butler and his representative have indicated that they wish to be traded, therefore, we will listen to offers.”
Butler is in the final year of a contract which pays him $49million this season.
And he will lose around $336,543 per game during the suspension, or $2,355,798 overall, though he has the right to appeal which could soften the financial hit.
He has a player option for next season for $52m.
But there has been a contract standoff between the player and the team over a long-term deal since the summer.
And Butler is likely to decline the option for next season and become a free agent, if he doesn’t get a trade.
As reported by ESPN, his four preferred destinations are the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks.
Butler is a six-time NBA All-Star who was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 2011 as the 30th overall pick.
After leaving the Bulls in 2017, Butler played for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers before ending up in Miami in 2019.
He has been to two NBA Finals in his career, including two years ago with the Heat.
But the 2016 Olympic champion is yet to win basketball’s biggest prize.
He was injured during the playoffs last year and the Heat lost in the first round to the Boston Celtics.
Miami has a 17-15 record and is currently sixth in the Eastern Conference.
New rights deal
The NBA signed an 11-year deal with three networks for the league’s rights from the 2025-26 season.
And there will be no games on TNT for the first time since the network launched in 1988.
The Walt Disney Company will continue to show the league with 80 regular-season games across ESPN and ABC.
They will also show around 18 playoff games from the first and second round, a Conference Finals series for 10 of the 11 years, and remain the home of the NBA Finals.
NBC will return as an NBA broadcaster for the first time since 2002.
The network will show up to 100 games per season across it’s channels and Peacock streaming service.
It will also be the home of NBA All-Star and show approximately 28 playoff games from the first and second round.
NBC will show one Conference Finals Series for six of the 11 years, rotating with new broadcaster Amazon Prime.
Amazon will show 66 NBA regular-season games including one on Black Friday.
The streaming service is also the home of the latter stages of the NBA Cup and the entire Play-In Tournament.
Prime will also broadcast around one third of the playoff games in the first and second round.
