Championship Coach Backs Erik Spoelstra After Jimmy Butler Suspension

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra finds himself in an unenviable place amid the Jimmy Butler trade drama.

Butler wants out, and the Heat have suspended him twice this month alone. The Heat are in freefall, losing six of their last 10 and dropping to 21-22.

Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers feels for Spoelstra, who he knows is in a lose-lose situation.

“I feel terrible for Spo,” Rivers said Thursday. “I mean, there’s no winning for Spo in this. It’s just hard.

“He’s got to try to get his team focused,” Rivers added. “It’s our league at times, and it’s no fun to go through.”

Rivers’ Bucks routed the Heat 125-96 on Thursday night. A national audience watched the Heat allow 44 second-quarter points, spearheaded by Damian Lillard notching six points in 1.1 seconds.

DAME TIME TO END THE HALF. https://t.co/7pTCgrmx6i pic.twitter.com/LWLPJ2hoxm
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 24, 2025

The Heat are without Butler, who is serving a two-game suspension after missing a team flight Wednesday.

Rivers said he went through something similar when he coached Ben Simmons on the 76ers. Simmons held out of the 2021-22 season and publicly feuded with Rivers before joining the Nets in the James Harden deal.

“It’s not fun really for the players because their brother is the player, and so they don’t want to have to take sides,” Rivers explained.

“They don’t want to get involved,” Rivers continued. “And anything they say will be construed one way or the other.”

LOVE POKES FUN AT ADEBAYO

The Miami Heat rely on veteran big man Kevin Love more for his leadership and experience than his playing skills at this point.

As we’ve learned in recent weeks, Love has a sense of humor, too.

With his playing time limited this season, Love has spent his free time trolling teammates. Love has poked fun at Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro recently, and he added All-Star center Bam Adebayo to the club Thursday.

Love posted a video from The Green Mile before Thursday’s road game with the Bucks. The clip features John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) making a speech that seemingly resonated with Love.

“Bam in Spo’s office pouring his heart out over this whole situation…” Love wrote, likely alluding to the ongoing Jimmy Butler saga.

Wednesday night, Love shared a Scarface clip on Instagram featuring Tony Montana (Al Pacino) angrily cursing in a restaurant. The five-time All-Star captioned the post, “Jimmy dining out in Miami this evening…”

“You all a bunch of f***in’ a**holes,” Montana says in the clip. “You know why? You don’t have the guts to be what you wanna be. You need people like me.

“You need people like me so you can point your f***in’ fingers and say, ‘That’s the bad guy,’” Montana continues.

Butler said last week he approved of Love’s humor, even if it came at his expense.

“I like Kev, but [he’s] not more petty than I am,” Butler told reporters, “and he’s giving me a run for my money.”

PARKER RIPS BUTLER AGAIN

If Butler needs someone to vouch for him this summer, he shouldn’t call Fox Sports Radio host Rob Parker.

Parker has frequently criticized Butler throughout the ongoing trade saga, and he again unleashed on the six-time All-Star.

“He’s unreliable, unprofessional, and is a big baby when he doesn’t get his way,” Parker said Thursday. “It is awful.”

Parker went one step further, essentially urging owners to band together and refuse to sign Butler this summer. Butler can hit unrestricted free agency if he declines a $52 million player option.

“I wouldn’t touch this guy with a 10-foot pole,” Parker argued on The Odd Couple. “I wouldn’t give him anything. I don’t care.

“Who would want to go and sign up or get in bed with somebody who’s done this in the other stops that he’s been?” Parker continued.

Parker notably blasted Butler in late December, shortly after Heat president Pat Riley declared the team wouldn’t trade the All-Star forward.

“Jimmy Butler, you signed a contract,” Parker said Dec. 26. “Live up to it.”

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Jake Elman works as a contributing writer to Miami Heat on SI. He can be reached at jakeelman97@gmail.com or follow him on X @JakeElman97.