Inside The Heat

Former NBA Guard Mocks Miami Heat Star Jimmy Butler’s Suspension

Jake Elman

Jan 2, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) looks on from the bench during the second half at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Jan 2, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) looks on from the bench during the second half at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
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Longtime NBA guard Austin Rivers didn’t have trades or drama in mind when he learned the Miami Heat suspended Jimmy Butler.

All Rivers could think about was his next espresso.

Rivers mocked the Miami Heat’s decision to suspend Butler on Friday night. Miami publicly reprimanded Butler for “conduct detrimental to the team” and suspended him for the Heat’s next seven games.

“3.7 million in fines for 7 games,” Rivers wrote. “So this means big face coffee [is] going to be a 100k a cup lol.”

Butler opened the first storefront for his BigFace coffee brand Dec. 6 in Miami’s Design District. He started BigFace as an online coffee store in 2021 and has had pop-up coffee trucks at various events, including the Miami Grand Prix. 

Luckily for Rivers, prices at BigFace ranged from $4 for an espresso to $10 for a pour-over when the store opened.

Of course, Butler may need to run things remotely moving forward. The Heat declared Friday they are open to trading Butler, who hits unrestricted free agency this summer. 

Although Rivers sees the humor in Butler’s suspension, the National Basketball Players Association certainly doesn’t. The NBPA announced late Friday night they’ll file a grievance on Butler’s behalf.

MORE BUTLER COVERAGE

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MORE HEAT NEWS

Miami Heat Fans Blast Jimmy Butler Following Trade Request: ‘Peace Out, Jimmy’

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Jake Elman works as a contributing writer to Miami Heat on SI. He can be reached at jakeelman97@gmail.com or follow him on X @JakeElman97.

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Jake Elman
JAKE ELMAN

Jake Elman is a veteran sports journalist and graduate of Florida Atlantic University’s journalism program. In recent years, he has covered the NFL for EndGame360 and served as the sports content lead for ExpressVPN. He also covered the Lane Kiffin years at FAU for the Palm Beach Post.