Jimmy Butler will miss his only visit to Miami

Butler's listed reason is a back injury. The Warriors have played a brutal schedule to start this season, surviving it at 9-7, though that included a tough loss in Orlando on Tuesday night. Stephen Curry is also sitting against the Heat due to an ankle issue. Johnathan Kuminga has been out. And a couple of hours prior to game-time, Draymond Green is questionable.

Still, even though Curry and Green are future Hall of Famers, and Curry -- who missed last season's game in Miami as well -- is still one of the game's great attractions, it's Butler the fans were coming to see, and boo. As they did last season, when Butler played poorly in a blowout loss, about a month after getting his wish to get out of Miami after 5 1/2 seasons because he has lost his "joy."

Butler's tenure was highlighted by two runs to the NBA Finals (2020 and 2023), largely due to his playoff brilliance, but the discord towards the end due to his desire for a contract extension has colored the view of him in the Heat front office and the fan base. It seems doubtful at this stage that his number 22 will ever be retired; currently,

Andrew Wiggins, who was one of the players acquired for Butler in the 2024 trade, is wearing it. And Wiggins hasn't been suspended by the Heat, like Butler was several times last season.

The Heat received plenty for Butler, as it turned out, not just Wiggins, but also Davion Mitchell from Toronto (Mitchell has been a revelation and is currently starting), as well as the draft choice that became Kasparas Jakucionis, as well as role player Kyle Anderson. Anderson was later included in the deal to acquire Norman Powell, who is off to a hotter start than even Butler was early in the latter's Heat tenure.

So it worked out for Butler; he got paid by the Warriors.

But it seems to have worked out for the Heat also.

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