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For the second time this month, Jimmy Butler is gearing up for his return from a suspension.
Per the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, Butler is expected to rejoin the Miami Heat as they face the Orlando Magic on Monday after his two-game suspension ended following Saturday’s game.
The Heat suspended Butler for two games on Wednesday due to a “continued pattern of disregard of team rules, insubordinate conduct and conduct detrimental to the team, including missing today’s team flight to Milwaukee.”
It marked the second suspension Butler received since requesting a trade on Jan. 2. The first suspension came on Jan. 3 and was also for “conduct detrimental to the team,” though it earned him a seven-game ban.
“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,” the team said in a statement. “Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team.”
The Heat split the recent two-game stretch without Butler, losing in blowout fashion to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday before beating the Brooklyn Nets 106-97 on Saturday behind 25 points from Tyler Herro and 16 boards from Bam Adebayo. The Heat are 22-22 on the season, sitting in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Butler’s time with the Heat seems limited as the veteran has made it clear he wants out. According to Jackson, Butler said at a padel tournament on Saturday that he didn’t know if this weekend would be his last in Miami.