Miami Heat great and Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway ripped NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler over his saga preceding the NBA trade deadline, calling Butler a “crybaby” for becoming disgruntled and acting out in a way that forced Miami to cave in to his demands and trade him to the Golden State Warriors. Despite publicly stating they were not going to deal Butler despite his request to be traded, the Heat were forced to make a deal to send him packing after Butler was suspended multiple times for engaging in conduct detrimental to the team.
Butler’s act did not sit well with Hardaway, who spent the prime of his career with the Heat from 1996 to 2001 and became one of the greatest players in franchise history during that span.
“I didn’t agree with what he was doing. You’re under contract. You’re a baby. You’re a crybaby, because they said ‘no’ to you,” Hardaway told SiriusXM. “We used to get said ‘no’ to us all the time, and we used to know how to take it. It is what it is. It’s a question, you get a yes or a no. You might not like the (answer), but you can’t deviate and mess up the team, alright?”
Butler was traded away after an ugly saga stemming from failed contract negotiations. The six-time All-Star sought an extension after helping lead the Heat to two Eastern Conference finals, but the team did not grant his wish, with Butler’s age and injuries — which contributed to Miami having to make the playoffs through the NBA’s Play-in Tournament — being major considerations.
By December, Butler said he would prefer to be traded, but team president Pat Riley made it publicly clear Miami was not going to deal him away. That sparked a series of alleged incidents for which Butler was suspended, including walking out of practice and missing a team flight.
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“I fault them for letting him get away with a bunch of stuff too. You gotta nip it in the bud,” Hardaway said, pointing specifically to an incident where Butler threatened coach Erik Spoelstra. “… That should’ve been, ‘Yo, you’re getting three-to-five games. You don’t talk to the coach like that. You don’t disrespect the coach like that.'”
The past several months marked the second major trade drama of Butler’s career, as he also forced his way off of the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2018. Butler was traded to the Warriors in a five-team deal that saw the Heat acquire Andrew Wiggins and the Warriors sign Butler to a two-year, $121 million contract extension after Butler declined his player option for the 2025-26 season.
