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.

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.

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.