‘This Is How Non-Guaranteed Contracts … Come’: Kevin Garnett Blasts Jimmy Butler’s Miami Heat Beef as Unprofessional, Disrespecting Past Generations

Jimmy Butler’s Miami Heat tantrum has rubbed some NBA champions the wrong way. In fact, since demanding to be traded from the Heat, Butler reportedly isn’t generating much interest on the trade market ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. 

He also has a strict list of teams he would be willing to go to and NBA champion and Top 75 player Kevin Garnett is fed up with superstar players such as Butler messing up the game for everybody else and disrespecting superstar culture and the precedent set by past warriors such as Garnett. Guys who laid the groundwork for the exorbitant salaries dudes like Butler enjoy today.  

Kevin Garnett Blasts Jimmy Butler For Messing Up NBA, Disrespecting Past Players With His Recent Behavior

On his “KD Certified” podcast, Garnett gets at Butler and other stars of today for basically messing up the game. 

“You want to make a statement, come out and get 50. If I was Jimmy Butler, I’d have 50 and be screaming at the top of my lungs. … Get another 50, just keep pushing and keep winning. If you want some real leverage, ball the F-k out,” KD said, while criticizing Butler’s approach to forcing his way out of Miami.

KG continued: “This is how non-guaranteed (contracts) are going to come into our league. For sh*t like this. We fukin’ fought our ass off through five and six got damn lockouts to get to the point where we protect the integrity of the talent. Then that talent had the responsibility to be professional, come in here and do your f-ken job. 

“You think I like Glen Taylor. You think I like that muthafu-a. Nah. You think Paul (Pierce) liked (his owner) at one point when they weren’t seeing eye to eye. We came in, we did our f-ken jobs, you got paid, and we went home.

“You go home. As soon as you got an opportunity to change that you change it I ain’t finna come in here make a mockery, and one be a distraction to the other guys in here. ’Cause, bro, that’s what you doing,” added Garnett with a direct shot at Butler and the way he is handling his strong-arm departure.  

Kevin Garnett Says The Way John Wall and Houston Rockets Handled Conflict Is Blueprint

Garnett then pointed to former NBA star John Wall and his situation with the Houston Rockets as the correct way for a star player and organization to conduct themselves. He didn’t totally exonerate Pat Riley and Miami’s handling of the situation, but he put the onus on Butler to be a pro, get his money and protect the financial gains players have made over the years. There’s a brotherhood and history that current players need to respect. 

“John Wall did the perfect thing, when he and Houston weren’t seeing eye to eye. They both sat down and said this is what we finna to do. They said, “You go home, young fella. Go do what you got to do. Work on ya business…Don’t be a distraction.”

Wall says his time in Houston was “trash,” and he explained why  in 2023. 

“I’m going there thinking James (Harden) is gonna be there once I get traded, but he already wants out. When I landed, I’m like, ‘What’s up? I’m about to land. Gotta go do my conference s–t.’ He’s like, ‘Well I’m on my way to Atlanta to go to Lil Baby’s birthday.’ The f–k? He talking about, ‘You wanna get on the jet with me?’ B—h, I just got traded here. I can’t f–k up. I’ve got to be on good terms. I don’t know how the owner is, how the GM is. I don’t know nothing.”

Wall played well that first season in Houston and was looking forward to building something. But the team was actively tanking, and Wall was told to stay away from the team in that second year.

“My first year in Houston, we were tanking,” said Wall. “We lost 20 in a row. We were trying to lose on purpose, tanking. We were starting n***** named Justin Patton.”

Said Garnett: “John Wall was out for two years. He was with the Rockets for two years (not playing). But you never saw him around, never saw him on the bench. He wasn’t a distraction. You never heard none of that right? Man he dissolved. He got paid those two years some real money. He wasn’t in no narrative, bro this could have gone another way. And Pat, both sides could have actually squashed all of this, but this is a message not only to the league, but between upstairs and the power of players.”   

Is There A Trade Market For Jimmy Butler?

Outside of the Phoenix Suns, reports say there isn’t a huge market for Butler. He has a player option in his contract for next season, meaning he can either opt in at a salary of $52.4 million or opt out and become a free agent.

Butler has been suspended by the Heat on three separate occasions. The first suspension was a seven-game ban for conduct detrimental to the team after Butler publicly suggested his desire to be traded. The Heat and Pat Riley then announced that they would entertain trade offers for Butler.

Butler was later suspended two games for missing a team flight, leading to his indefinite suspension. 

Butler, 35, is a six-time All-Star who has spent the past six seasons with the Heat after stints with the Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers.

Over 25 games this season, Butler is averaging 17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists per contest while shooting 54.0 percent from the field.

Butler has had two surprising NBA Finals runs, but he’s never won a championship and never been considered among the top 10 players in the NBA, which makes his behavior all the more annoying. “Playoff” Jimmy has averaged 21.0 points per game in 316 regular-season games with the Heat and 24.7 points per game in 64 playoff games with Miami.

He was currently averaging 17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists per contest while shooting 54.0 percent from the field for a Miami Heat team that is in transition and trying to rebuild back into a championship contender. 

Stay tuned for the Jimmy Butler and Miami Heat saga and what the NBA community is saying about the beef.

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