Caron Butler agrees to new contract with Heat. Also, Dwyane Wade taking on new broadcasting role
After signing head coach Erik Spoelstra to a lucrative eight-year contract extension in January, the Miami Heat has made another commitment to its coaching staff.
Assistant coach Caron Butler has agreed to a new four-year deal with the Heat to remain on Spoelstra’s staff, a league source confirmed on Wednesday. Butler’s previous contract expired at the end of this past season.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the news.
Butler, 44, has spent the past four seasons as a Heat assistant coach after joining Spoelstra’s staff shortly before the start of the 2020-21 season. He has been one of the Heat’s top assistant coaches since being hired.
The three assistant coaches who have sat alongside Spoelstra in the front row of the Heat’s bench during this four-year stretch are Chris Quinn, Malik Allen and Butler.
Also on Spoelstra’s staff who are listed as assistant coaches are Octavio De La Grana and Eric Glass. In addition, Rob Fodor, Dan Bisaccio, Remy Ndiaye and Wayne Ellington are Heat player development coaches.
The expectation is the core of the Heat’s coaching staff will remain intact for next season.
Butler, who served as the Heat’s summer league head coach for the first time last year, told the Miami Herald last summer that he wants to become a head coach in the NBA one day.
“That’s the dream,” he said of that goal. “I’m continuing to be in basketball school and learning from some of the best minds to ever coach the game of basketball.”
Before taking his first NBA coaching job with the Heat, Butler served as a Turner Sports NBA analyst since 2018. He also worked as a studio analyst for Spectrum SportsNet’s coverage of the Los Angeles Lakers and worked as an occasional game analyst for the Washington Wizards during the 2019-20 season.
Butler’s history with the Heat began before he became a coach, as he was drafted by the Heat with the 10th overall pick in 2002. Butler spent two seasons with the Heat before being traded to the Lakers in 2004 as part of a package to acquire Shaquille O’Neal.
Butler appeared in 146 regular-season games (134 starts) in his two seasons (2002-04) with the Heat. He still owns the Heat rookie records for points scored (1,201), free throws made (309) and minutes played (2,858).
During Butler’s 14-year NBA career, he played for the Heat, Lakers, Wizards, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Milwaukee Bucks, Detroit Pistons and Sacramento Kings before retiring after the 2015-16 season.
“I didn’t know that I was going to fall in love with the game and the teaching and all those things,” Butler said to the Miami Herald last offseason when asked about his growing love for coaching. “But it’s something that I just can’t see myself not doing now because of the connection with the players and seeing them get it and the information that you instill in them. That feeling is priceless.”
WADE’S NEW ROLE
NBC announced Wednesday that Heat icon Dwyane Wade will serve as a game analyst for Team USA’s men’s basketball games at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
“I’m thrilled to join NBC Sports as a commentator for Team USA Men’s Basketball games,” Wade said in a statement. “The Olympics are the world’s greatest sporting competition with elite athletes competing at the highest level on the world’s largest stage. I have tremendous pride when I look back at my time competing as an Olympic athlete. I have the utmost respect for these players and their commitment to greatness. It will be an honor to witness their journey in person and share this special experience with viewers while we unite to celebrate their pursuit of the gold.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2024 at 12:12 PM.
