With just days to go before the NBA trade deadline, Jimmy Butler’s agent appears to be doing some damage control.
Bernie Lee, who represents the disgruntled Miami Heat star Butler, fired back this week at some recent remarks that NBA journalist Rachel Nichols made on a podcast. Nichols said that Butler made the Heat team plane wait for “hours” on the tarmac for a recent flight to Milwaukee for a game. She also said Butler’s Miami teammates had grown tired of the six-time All-Star’s “disrespect[ful]” antics.
You can read Nichols’ full remarks here.
In response to Nichols, Lee shared a post to X on Saturday showing the flight data for the date in question. Apparently, the Delta flight from Miami to Milwaukee on that date both left and arrived on time (and was actually a few minutes early even).
“Man,” Lee wrote. “now trust me I get the irony here but just to clear this up once and for all this is the flight that keeps being mentioned…”
Man….. now trust me I get the irony here but just to clear this up once and for all this is the flight that keeps being mentioned… https://t.co/gowb7V51vY pic.twitter.com/dCzryIrb0c
— Bernard Lee (@BernieoLee) February 1, 2025
Veteran NBA writer Marc Stein also confirmed in a subsequent report that the Heat team flight that day did indeed depart on time.
League sources confirm to @TheSteinLine that Miami's team flight to Milwaukee left on time Jan. 22 despite persistent reports that Jimmy Butler delayed its departure.
This tweet from Butler's agent Bernie Lee indicates the flight left at 2:15 PM ET and arrived at 4:31 PM CT. https://t.co/5jBClr1U2j
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 1, 2025
The original source of the flight story was former NBA big man Channing Frye, who said on a podcast that “the [Heat] team was waiting for [Butler] for a couple of hours on the tarmac.” What we do know for certain though is that Miami suspended Butler for two games at the time, saying that he had missed the flight altogether.
While Butler may not have actually caused a delay, Lee’s post does nothing to prove that his client was actually on that team flight or that he properly communicated his whereabouts to the Heat. It is worth noting too that Lee also recently disputed a report by Shams Charania about Butler that actually ended up being true.
