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MIAMI – Besides Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler speaking about his future with the team, he also gave insight into his stomach illness that made him miss the past five games. As Butler has been the face of trade speculation, he's ready to make his return to the floor and start 2025 with a bang.
Butler spoke after Tuesday's practice where there was no doubt that his thoughts on the recent trade rumors were on the mind of many within the basketball world. However, Butler wants to put that in the back of his mind and make the best out of the situation he's currently in.
Heat's Jimmy Butler said he was “messed up” with illness
The 35-year-old is on track to play in Wednesday night's game against the New Orleans Pelicans as he confirmed Tuesday as well as head coach Erik Spoelstra. Butler left in the first quarter of the loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder where even though it looked as if he injured his ankle, the team would announce he didn't return to the contest due to him “feeling ill.”
He would provide more insight into that situation after Tuesday's practice where he entered the game sick, and even said that he was “pretty messed up,” describing himself as “near starving and ready to throw up.” The Miami star also mentioned that he “tweaked” the ankle, but it was not serious compared to the illness he was feeling.
“I was pretty bad,” Butler said. “I was pretty messed up, but I wanted to compete because I actually do want to play as many games as possible. I'm not even messing around. And I came out and I felt sluggish, and then I tweaked it a little bit, but that wasn't what it was. I was out there damn near starving and ready to throw up and all of this stuff, I feel good. I feel good now.”
Heat look to get a huge boost with Jimmy Butler back
Looking at Butler through videos and pictures posted on his social media, the forward had lost some weight due to the illness which made him miss the last five games. He spoke about being “down for the count” because of the stomach bug but feels much better in putting the weight and muscle back.
“Not that anybody cares, because I know that nobody cared, but I was down for the count,” Butler said. “I'm not gonna even lie. I had a couple people check in on me, but I'm feeling better now. I put my weight back on, got my muscle back.”
Miami has been 3-2 in the last five since Butler has been out and will no doubt be a huge boost for the team as they head into the new year. Spoelstra also spoke about Butler making his return to the team at Tuesday's practice and said he was in “good spirits.”
“He looked good today, he went through it this past week, it was rough, but he's back in good spirits, we had a good practice,” Spoelstra said.
At any rate, the Heat are currently 16-14 which puts them seventh in the Eastern Conference as they start a three-game homestand on Wednesday against the Pelicans.
