Jimmy Butler away from Heat due to personal reasons, out Saturday vs. Cavaliers
Jimmy Butler is away from the Heat due to personal reasons and will miss Saturday’s home game against the Cavaliers.
Those same personal reasons also forced him to miss Friday night’s “Flashback” event for Dwyane Wade at AmericanAirlines Arena. Butler was one of the only Heat players who was not at the event.
It turns out Butler will also miss Wade’s jersey-retirement ceremony Saturday night. Butler and Wade are close friends after spending one season together as teammates with the Bulls in 2016-17.
Butler’s absence is not related to an injury.
Saturday marks the ninth game Butler, 30, has missed this season. He missed the first three games of the season while on paternity leave following the birth of his daughter, the fourth game because of an illness, the fifth game because of lower back soreness, the sixth game because of right hip soreness, and the seventh and eighth games because of a right shoulder strain.
The Heat has posted a 4-4 record in the first eight games Butler has missed. Butler’s status for Monday’s game against the Cavaliers in Cleveland is still unknown.
Butler is averaging a team-high 20.6 points on 45.3 percent shooting from the field and 24.6 percent shooting on threes this season. He’s also averaging a team-high 6.2 assists and 1.8 steals.
Along with Butler, the Heat will also be without center Meyers Leonard (sprained left ankle) and rookie guard Tyler Herro (right ankle soreness) on Saturday against the Cavaliers. Cleveland will be without Kevin Love (right Achilles soreness) and Alfonzo McKinnie (left foot plantar fasciitis).
This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 4:15 PM.
