Golden State Warriors star Jimmy Butler doesn't believe he was the sole culprit in his ugly split with the Miami Heat.
"It ain't like I was the one who was doing everything," Butler told reporters Monday, including Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. "It's got to be 50-50, maybe 51-49. Forty-nine towards them, 51 towards me. But there's no way that I was the cause of all of this."
Miami dealt Butler to the Warriors ahead of the trade deadline, ending weeks of tension between him and the club.
The Heat suspended Butler three different times in January. He was initially handed a seven-game ban for conduct detrimental to the team, and the Heat confirmed he'd requested a trade. Butler was subsequently suspended two games for missing a team flight and then banned indefinitely after walking out of a practice for "a continued pattern of disregard of team rules, engaging in conduct detrimental to the team, and intentionally withholding services."
Butler doesn't think his behavior warranted the suspensions.
"I think the suspensions are more because they just didn't want me to be around the team," Butler said. "It wasn't anything I actually did because I didn't do anything too drastic to deserve X amount of games being suspended. But it is what it is. Yeah, I got some bills. So what, it's all taken care of."
Butler will make his long-awaited return to South Beach on Tuesday when the Warriors face the Heat.
Miami plans to honor Butler with a tribute video.
The six-time All-Star spent parts of six seasons with the Heat, leading the franchise to a pair of Finals appearances and earning three All-NBA nods.
