Jimmy Butler has been suspended by the Miami Heat for the second time in three weeks after missing the team’s flight to Milwaukee.
The 35-year-old striker was suspended seven games by the Heat earlier this month for “repeated incidents of behavior harmful to the team.”
Butler returned from his suspension last Friday, but missed a team flight on Wednesday, which resulted in him being suspended for the next two games.
The Heat, which said it would listen to trade offers after Butler’s initial suspension, said the veteran will now miss Thursday’s games against the Milwaukee Bucks and Saturday’s Brooklyn Nets.
“We have suspended Jimmy Butler for two games [a] “an ongoing pattern of disregard for team rules, insubordination and behavior harmful to the team, including missing today’s team flight to Milwaukee,” the team said in a statement.
Butler, a six-time NBA All-Star, joined the Heat from the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019.
He played 25 games for the Heat this season, averaging 17 points, 4.8 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game.
The deadline for exchanging NBA offers is February 6.
