Butler publicly announced his displeasure with the Heat following a 128–115 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 2, stating that he hasn't been playing with "joy" in Miami. He hasn't played since that night, as the Heat issued a seven-game suspension for Butler over conduct detrimental to the team.

Jimmy Butler's deteriorating relationship with the Miami Heat has been a major developing story over the past few weeks. The 35-year-old has made up his mind to leave the franchise after six seasons due to a plethora of reasons.

While Butler was suspended, Heat forward Kevin Love posted the “I'm not f*****g leaving” scene from The Wolf of Wall Street, captioning the post “LIVE LOOK – Jimmy after his meeting with Micky #getmyjoyback” in reference to Butler's comments about losing his joy on the court with the Heat. Butler spurned more headlines by liking the post.