Tim Hardaway Makes A Wild Claim About Jimmy Butler

The last few months have been wild and dramatic for Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat.

Butler sat out of multiple games as he fought to be traded and also suffered injury problems this season and last that only made the situation worse.

But was he really hurt at all?

Speaking on the “Gil’s Arena” show, Tim Hardaway Sr. cast doubt on that claim.

“He wasn’t hurt. He was just taking games off,” Hardaway said, per Legion Hoops.

Tim Hardaway Sr. on Jimmy Butler:

“He wasn’t hurt. He was just taking games off.”

(via @GilsArenaShow) pic.twitter.com/1BmLN7aY73

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) February 20, 2025

There was a time when Heat fans would have given Butler the benefit of the doubt, but a lot has changed, and now most of them probably agree with Hardaway.

It became painfully clear that Butler didn’t want to play for the Heat earlier this season.

After months of speculation and rumors, he got hurt, started playing poorly, and made a few public comments stating that he had lost the joy of playing basketball and couldn’t get it back in Miami.

Then, he formally requested a trade from the team, which set off a firestorm of stories and commotion behind the scenes.

Butler was suspended multiple times by the team because of how he acted off the court and the situation got very messy until the Heat finally traded him to the Golden State Warriors weeks ago.

Now a lot of Heat supporters feel that Butler wasn’t being honest about his injury and just didn’t want to play anymore.

This is just one of the many reasons why Butler will probably be a villain to the city of Miami for a while.

He did incredible things for the team, but the way he left was very chaotic and ugly and left a bad impression on the fans.

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