The Miami Heat have suspended Jimmy Butler for seven games for “multiple acts detrimental to the team” and announced that they’ll “listen to offers” for the All-Star forward, eight days after team president Pat Riley publicly stated that the team has “no will make offers”. Trade” Butler.

“Through his actions and statements, he has demonstrated that he no longer wants to be a part of this team,” the Heat wrote in a team statement Friday. “Jimmy Butler and his representative have indicated that they would like a trade, so we will listen to the offers.”

The National Basketball Players Association plans to appeal the penalty.

“The seven-game suspension imposed on Jimmy Butler by the Miami Heat tonight is excessive and inappropriate, and we intend to file a discipline grievance,” the union said in a statement.

The Heat's decision to suspend Butler marks the latest turning point in an apparently eroding relationship. After Miami's 128-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 2, days after he returned to the Heat after a five-game absence, Butler said he had lost his joy in playing basketball and was ready to give it up “wherever that could be.” “will” be restored. Asked if that joy could be recreated in Miami, Butler replied: “Probably not.”

Shortly thereafter, a league source confirmed an ESPN report that Butler had informed the Heat of his desire to be traded to another NBA team by the league's trade deadline on February 6.

Miami HEAT statement on Jimmy Butler:

We have suspended Jimmy Butler for seven games because he has committed behavior detrimental to the team on several occasions over the course of the season and particularly in the previous few weeks.

– Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 4, 2025

In the 2 games before Butler's suspension, he totaled 11 shot attempts and averaged nine points in only over 25 minutes per game. He didn't play a single minute within the fourth quarter of either game. The 35-year-old forward is on pace to complete behind teammates Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo in usage rate for the second straight season, marking one other shift in his place in Miami's hierarchy because the Heat give the latter two more offense have entrusted responsibility.

“That may be my role here, but that's not what I'm used to,” Butler said Thursday of his reduced usage. “I haven't been like that since, I don't know, my first, second, third year in the league where I just went out and played defense. But I'm competitive – I guarded and tried not to let my man score. That’s what I do now.”

The two teams were unable to barter a contract extension after last season, leading the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals MVP to determine to play the 2024-25 season and express a desire to get out of the last one yr of his current contract, which might pay him $52.4 million. Butler has until the summer to elect that option, which might allow him to change into an unrestricted free agent and sign with the Heat or a brand new team.

Butler appeared in 22 of the Heat's 32 games this season, meaning he has missed not less than 10 games in each of his five-plus seasons with the Heat. When Butler has played, Miami has a 12-10 record, in comparison with a 5-3 record when he sat out. According to NBA.com, the team has five-time All-NBA selections on the court this season and has a net rating of plus-4.3. When he’s either on the bench or not available to play in any respect, Miami is outscored by 0.4 points per 100 possessions.

Availability has been at the guts of tensions between Butler and Miami's front office.

There were already tensions between the six-time All-Star and Miami last season. Last May, Riley lamented Butler's claim that he could have led the Heat past the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks within the playoffs last yr if he had been healthy.

“If you're not playing on the field, you should keep your mouth shut,” Riley said at his end-of-season press conference.

Since then, Butler has change into increasingly vocal about his dissatisfaction together with his contract status and role. When reports surfaced in December that he would favor to be traded to certainly one of the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks or Phoenix Suns, Butler began changing his hair color to match that of his potential suitors – blonde for the Warriors, red for the Rockets, blue for Mavericks and orange for Suns. When Butler was asked about his hair decisions in a rare post-practice media session on Tuesday, he attributed the thought to a loved one.

“My daughter chose purple, so I chose purple,” Butler said of Tuesday’s alternative. “She will also choose the color tonight. I think I know what it’s going to be, but she’s going to pick it.”

Butler's scoring average this season (17.6) is on pace to be his lowest since 2013-14 with the Chicago Bulls (13.1), although his 55.2 percent shooting percentage is his most effective in 14 seasons as a professional were. His 10.5 shot attempts per game ranks fourth amongst Heat players, behind Herro (17.5), Adebayo (13.7) and Terry Rozier (10.9).

Despite his statistical decline, Butler has shown signs of still being able to putting up big numbers. On December 16 against the Detroit Pistons, he became the primary player in NBA history to record a 30-point triple-double without committing a foul or turnover, although Miami lost 125–124 in extra time. (The league began tracking individual turnovers within the 1977-78 season.)

Close losses have been a sore point for Butler and the Heat. Miami has six losses by a margin of three points or fewer this season, tied with the Sacramento Kings (15-19) and Toronto Raptors (8-26) for probably the most such losses within the NBA. In critical situations – defined because the rating being inside five points in the ultimate five minutes of a game – the Heat are only 7-11; They have more clutch losses than lottery-bound teams just like the Portland Trail Blazers (11-22 overall), Utah Jazz (7-25) and Washington Wizards (6-25).

“It’s not a difficult transition for me. “I’m going to fight to win whether I score nine points or 29 points,” Butler said Thursday. “I’m going to compete – that’s one thing I’m going to say. So people won't say I'm out there not playing hard. It might seem that way because my usage has gone down and I don't shoot the ball a lot, but we're not going to sit here and say I'm not playing hard.”

With Miami now open to entertaining offers for Butler, it remains to be seen what it will take to end what has become a morbid chapter in franchise history after one of its best stretches. Miami posted the NBA's seventh-best winning percentage in Butler's first five seasons in South Florida.

Miami will be without Butler on Saturday as it hosts Utah before embarking on a six-game road trip. Until then, it's possible that Butler will finally get his wish.

“I want to get my joy back in playing basketball, and wherever that may be, we'll find out here soon,” Butler said Thursday. “I’m happy here off the pitch, but I want to be somewhat dominant again.”

Required reading

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama defensive back Malachi Moore won’t be suspended for his late-game tantrum against Vanderbilt and can start Saturday against South Carolina, in response to coach Kalen DeBoer. Moore's actions included throwing his mouthpiece, apparently refusing to be substituted in the ultimate moments of the sport, after which kicking the ball, which resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Moore, a fifth-grader and team captain, took to social media Monday morning to publicly apologize:

pic.twitter.com/szVMOk86Kb

— Kinggchi (@malachi_moore13) October 7, 2024

On Monday, defensive coordinator Kane Wommack expressed the view that the choice to switch Moore was intended to provide him a probability to calm down on the sidelines. But Wommack noted that it could not have been the fitting time.

“He really does things at the level and standard that we want,” Wommack said. “At that moment he became a bit emotional, so we wanted to try to calm him down a bit. Sometimes in such situations it is better to let them calm down at a later date. But again, I think he's handled things really well since then and taken on the level of responsibility that Coach DeBoer implemented. He’s done a really good job going forward.”

The situation was described as being handled internally. DeBoer effusively praised Moore's character on Monday. Moore was a stabilizing force that held Alabama's roster together throughout the head coaching transition, which was largely why he, Jalen Milroe, Tyler Booker and Deontae Lawson were named everlasting captains before the beginning of the season.

“What he did is he did his best by taking responsibility for it,” DeBoer said. “Immediately after the game until (Monday) morning, things that are all suggested by him, but are also just part of our conversations.

“I want to make sure Bama fans know that this guy was rock solid and a critical, critical contributor — along with others; There are a few others too – holding this thing together since January. When a lot of people decided to leave, this guy stood his ground. This guy loves Alabama football. And yes, there were some things he regretted and wished he hadn't done, yes. But he rose to the occasion and we handled it internally and are still dealing with it internally.”

Our co-host, former Alabama RB Damien Harris (@DHx34), upsets Alabama DB Malachi Moore for his tantrum against Vanderbilt.

“What you did in this field was complete nonsense. You’re a two-time captain.”

On tmrw's until Saturday: https://t.co/2rlzM0YjjQ @davidubben pic.twitter.com/ZZnjgNMsfn

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 7, 2024

Oatis enters the portal

During Monday's press conference, a report surfaced via ESPN that Jehiem Oatis plans to redshirt the rest of the season and enter the transfer portal. Oatis recorded two tackles and one pass deflection in 4 games this season and was not credited with any snaps against Vanderbilt, in response to Pro Football Focus. He still has two years of eligibility left.

“It felt like it was going that way,” DeBoer said. “I think you also have to understand that there are other elements, right. There are health elements. There are elements of life. I love these guys. They work hard. Jehiem's ​​decisions and things – there are reasons for that. He has notified and has notified and continues to communicate with us here. Somehow I had the feeling that maybe it was going in this direction – not just today or yesterday or here in the last few days.

“We're moving forward with the guys that can really help us win and focus on our program. As we go through this, I don’t want to make a final judgment on it, but you will always want the best for all people, and Jehiem is one of them.”

A former four-star recruit, Oatis earned a major role and All-SEC Freshman honors in his freshman season in 2022. His breakout performance was scheduled for 2023, but injuries slowed his progress and injuries continued throughout spring training and into the summer. Alabama's defensive position rotation is pretty intense, with six players getting significant snaps on a weekly basis (Tim Keenan, Tim Smith, Jah-Marien Latham, LT Overton, Damon Payne, and James Smith), but Oatis is because of his size, experience, and production a remarkable loss if completely healthy.

“I think Jehiem is obviously dealing with some injuries,” Wommack said. “Wasn’t able to perform or produce the way any of us would like. But my focus is really on the players who will do everything they can to help us win football games. So that’s really my focus right now.”

OAKLAND — For the past two years, 23-year-old Tyja Braswell's life has been stuffed with turbulent ups and downs, each another drastic than the last.

Since March 2022 – when she was paralyzed in a shooting that left an innocent bystander dead – Braswell has been charged with murder, released from prison, witnessed her friend die after the automobile they were in was shot at, sent back to prison, negotiated a plea deal to avoid conviction for murder or manslaughter, and released on two years' probation.

Then, just six months after being released on parole, Braswell was arrested and again charged with attempted murder, this time on suspicion of shooting the identical woman Braswell confronted shortly before the fatal shooting in 2022.

In total, Braswell spent about three months behind bars, based on court records, much of it in an Alameda County Sheriff's Office medical facility with an armed guard because she was disabled. She is currently out of prison on parole under similar conditions that authorities say she has violated several times before.

Braswell's tumultuous story begins on March 19, 2022, when she and a girl named Tamia Foster got into an argument at a gas station on International Boulevard in Oakland, prompting Braswell to achieve into her fanny pack to get a gun. Foster's boyfriend, Stavon Moore, already had a gun ready and commenced shooting, hitting Braswell but in addition fatally wounding 64-year-old Rodney Davis, a veteran who was there to purchase drugs from Braswell, based on police and witness statements.

Braswell was shot within the spine and was paralyzed from that day on. Police investigated Davis' killing and prosecutors eventually charged each Braswell and Moore with Davis' murder and attempted murder of one another. Foster was accused of giving Moore the gun shortly before the shooting.

Moore took his case to trial last yr, where his lawyer argued that the blame for the whole lot was Braswell's, not Moore's. The jury apparently agreed, acquitting Moore of the whole lot except possession of the gun he used to kill Davis and paralyze Braswell. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison.

While that case was being tried, Braswell was not sent to jail despite the pending murder charge. The county's probation department charged her with dozens of violations of the conditions of her pretrial release, including escaping from a GPS ankle monitor and ignoring a court-ordered curfew.

However, one violation couldn’t be denied: On April 29, 2023, at around 2:30 a.m., Braswell was out with a friend when a person named Bernard Jimmerson allegedly riddled their automobile with bullets because he was upset concerning the loud vehicle.

Braswell survived the shooting, but cops who responded to her found that she was obviously not home, as she was purported to be there after hours. Braswell's girlfriend, Marie Villa Bedford, was struck by gunfire and died. Jimmerson was later arrested and charged with murder.

Five months later, a judge followed the probation officers' advice and ordered Braswell to be remanded in custody – but she didn’t go to jail. She was placed in a medical facility with armed guards, “at significant expense to the county,” her attorney wrote in a legal filing. Just a month later, a deal was negotiated – she pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and received two years' probation.

“As far as I understand, you will not end up in state prison, but on probation. However, if you violate any probation at any point, you could go to prison for a maximum of six years,” Judge Delia Trevino Braswell warned at her plea change hearing in October 2023. “Do you understand that?”

“Yes,” Braswell replied.

But police say Braswell violated her probation six months later by attempting to kill Foster. The shooting occurred on May 30 of last yr at around 9:50 p.m. It bore striking similarities to the April 2023 shooting that Braswell survived. Police say she opened fire as Foster drove by in a vehicle, hitting the automobile several times, but Foster was unharmed.

Court documents say police recovered a gun from Braswell that day and located Facebook messages to Foster “that spoke of revenge and listed the date of the (murder) in which (Foster) and Braswell were co-defendants.” Braswell was charged in June with attempted murder, shooting into an occupied automobile and one other firearm possession charge.

On June 24, Judge Elena Condes released Braswell without bail, writing in a court order that Braswell should be under “house arrest” with a GPS monitoring device during her release. Her next court hearing is scheduled for October, records show.

Old Navy

gap

Banana Republic

athlete

Bay Area lawmakers have stalled a state bill that may have asked voters to approve a $750 million annual public transit bailout package for up to 3 many years.

The bill would have authorized regional transportation authorities to place the funding measure to a vote in 2026 to assist stabilize public transit, avoid service cuts, and improve local transit.

Democratic Senators Scott Wiener of San Francisco and Aisha Wahab of Hayward, in addition to the bill's sponsor, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) – the agency that makes transportation decisions for the Bay Area – paused their efforts on SB 1031 last week, saying they might introduce a brand new bill next yr.

First, they have to rebuild waning support for the bill and a tax increase that may cost taxpayers $22.5 billion if it remained in effect for 30 years.

“We realized we need more time to reach consensus on how to structure a regional measure that will protect public transit in the Bay Area well into the future,” said an announcement from Weiner, Wahab, MTC Chairman Alfredo Pedroza and Vice Chairman Nick Josefowitz.

In its current form, the bill, once approved by lawmakers, would give transportation authorities the green light to impose a sales tax, payroll tax, property tax or vehicle registration surcharge for as much as 30 years.

The bill also proposes integrating the Bay Area's 27 transportation agencies and allocating money for road and highway improvements. The state Senate approved the bill last month and it was on its solution to the Assembly when it was withdrawn.

The bill proposed a tax increase in just seven of the Bay Area's nine counties – Marin and Sonoma counties were excluded for fear of tax fatigue, as voters there must vote on a separate ballot to fund their local rail network. For the primary five years, 70 percent of revenue would return to the counties they originate from, and 90 percent of revenue thereafter.

But the best way the measure was worded would have left only 4 of the seven counties with a majority of the population answerable for spending, resulting in concerns in some counties, including Santa Clara, that they might have little say left.

This wording didn’t please many transit agencies, including the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency (VTA) and SamTrans in San Mateo County, each of which opposed the bill.

The VTA board voted against the measure last month, citing concerns about control of the cash and politics. Santa Clara County would have provided about 32% of the seven counties' revenue, by far the most important share, but would have had little control over how the cash was spent.

Before the Senate vote, Senator Dave Cortese, a Democrat from San Jose, said he opposed the bill because it will unfairly distribute the cash amongst tax-paying districts.

“That’s why I called it an existential threat,” he told the Senate in May.

More than two dozen organizations, including the California Taxpayers Association, the California Association of Realtors and the California Chamber of Commerce, also opposed the bill. In one letter, they said SB 1031 creates a competitive drawback for Bay Area businesses and imposes excessive sales taxes on working families and businesses.

California has the very best state sales and use tax rate within the country, and combined state and native sales tax rates in parts of the Bay Area are amongst the very best within the country, reaching nearly 11%, the group said in a letter.

“The sales and use tax is a regressive tax that has the greatest impact on low-income residents because it makes it more expensive for these taxpayers to purchase everyday items. Raising the cost of living even higher through a sales tax increase would harm Californians and disproportionately impact the state's most vulnerable residents,” the letter said.

Cindy Chavez, Santa Clara County Councilwoman and chair of the VTA board, spoke out against the measure during a board meeting in May, saying there could be concerns in each county in regards to the impact of the measure on their community.

“We all have very specific funding sources, plans and needs in our region. In order to work more cross-regionally, these concerns must be taken into account,” said Chavez.

Despite all of the objections and discussions, the bill passed the Senate on May 24 with 26 votes and the support of eight of the nine Bay Area senators.

But just per week later, Wiener and Wahab withdrew the bill, saying more time was needed to construct regional consensus. Lawmakers said the goal was to find out what sort of bill would secure sufficiently broad regional support to pass parliament next yr and pave the best way for a successful vote in 2026.

“We all have to come together as a region,” Wiener said on Tuesday.

Since the pandemic, transit ridership within the Bay Area has steadily increased but still not reached pre-pandemic levels. As state and federal aid dries up, transit agencies within the region are expected to see budget deficits totaling at the least $600 million a yr – enough to trigger massive service cuts that may significantly impact the economy, convenience and climate goals.

BART ridership in April was 42% of pre-COVID estimates. Muni's overall ridership is about 67% of pre-pandemic levels, though some lines are seeing much higher ridership, a spokesperson said.

“We have a real problem in the Bay Area that we want to address that affects Muni, BART, Caltrain and other systems that are going to have big problems in the next few years,” Wiener said Tuesday. “We wanted to pass this bill this year so that transit systems can have confidence that it will be on the ballot in 2026. We really all need to come together and recognize that we are all connected and that we give and take when it comes to transportation.”

BART, which is able to run out of cash by 2025 unless it receives latest funding, called the legislative pause “disappointing but not discouraging” given the continuing opposition and wrote in an announcement that the pause was comprehensible.

Even before the Senate passed the bill, a majority of MTC commissioners said they might withdraw their support for the measure.

“We still have to get involved and just try to find a way forward,” said Pedroza, the chairman of the MTC. “How that will work has yet to be decided.”

The MTC will hold a special meeting on June 12 to debate next steps, with additional meetings planned for this summer and fall.

NASCAR fined Cup Series driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. $75,000 and suspended his father and two crew members from JTG Daugherty Racing for his or her involvement in a brawl that occurred Sunday night following the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Stenhouse was upset about an on-track incident that knocked him out of the race. After the race, he confronted Kyle Busch and, after an exchange of words, punched Busch in the top. Busch was not fined or penalized.

Stenhouse's father, Ricky Stenhouse Sr., was suspended indefinitely for his involvement within the physical altercation, following a previous precedent wherein NASCAR objects to members of the family getting involved in altercations.

Two crew members from JTG Daugherty Racing, Stenhouse's team, were also suspended for his or her involvement. NASCAR suspended team mechanic Clint Myrick for eight races and tuner Keith Matthews received a four-week suspension.

Wednesday's penalties are the results of an incident between Stenhouse and Busch within the early laps of the All-Star Race that sparked the fight within the pits after the race.

The chain of events began with Busch becoming annoyed at what he felt was an excessively aggressive maneuver by Stenhouse on Lap 1, which prompted Busch to retaliate on the subsequent lap by turning Stenhouse's automobile around and sending him crashing into the wall . With his automobile too badly damaged to proceed driving, Stenhouse parked his Chevrolet in Busch's pit lane before getting out and climbing a ladder to yell at Busch's team.

Stenhouse then vowed revenge during a nationally televised interview on FS1, essentially declaring that he would wait for Busch after the 200-lap race. Nearly 90 minutes later, and shortly after the checkered flag was waved, Stenhouse was waiting for Busch within the garage, leaning casually against the No. 8 RCR team transport as Busch approached.

After discussing the incident on the track, Stenhouse punched Busch, sparking a scuffle between members of their teams, which included Ricky Stenhouse Sr., who pushed Busch. Stenhouse Jr. was heard saying “Dad” several times as his father and Busch huddled, with Busch appearing to throw a punch on the elder Stenhouse.

The fight was over inside seconds, but a video of the incident went viral.

Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. argue after the All-Star race. pic.twitter.com/IJMttBw90W

— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) May 20, 2024

“I'm not sure why he was so mad,” Stenhouse Jr. told FS1 after the fight. “I pushed him to three sides, but he hit the fence and he kind of jumped off the wall and ran into me. I don't know, when I talked to him he kept saying I ruined him.

“I definitely get frustrated because he talks about me all the time. But I know he’s frustrated because he’s not running as well as he used to.”

Elton Sawyer, NASCAR's senior vice president of competition, told SiriusXM that officials decided not to penalize Busch for the pre-fight accident because they did not consider it to be a purely intentional act.

“As a sanctioning body, we actually stay out of the incidents on the track unless we see something that obviously reflects on us,” Sawyer said. “We let the fellows resolve and comply with disagree.”

Sawyer reiterated that crew members and family members are not allowed to “touch our athletes,” but declined to elaborate on why, as the penalties are subject to appeal. He said NASCAR penalized Stenhouse Jr. because he chose to physically attack Busch despite the long wait after the incident on the track.

NASCAR handled the scuffle between Stenhouse and Busch similarly to a brawl last fall after a Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway that involved a parent.

In this situation, Matt Crafton, who retired from the race, waited for Nick Sanchez after the race to confront him. Crafton threw a punch, breaking Sanchez's nose. Crafton was fined $25,000, Sanchez went unpunished, and Sanchez's father was suspended for two races for being involved in the altercation.

NASCAR typically tolerates physical altercations between drivers as long as they occur immediately afterward and neither driver has time to calm down. NASCAR is not so lenient when parents are involved and usually responds with a suspension.

Why NASCAR imposed these penalties

Let's start with the crew members and Stenhouse Sr.

In the past, NASCAR has viewed crew members in its fighting rules similar to how the NHL views the “third man in.” NASCAR is somewhat okay with drivers sorting things out themselves (so just a fine and no suspension for Stenhouse and no penalties at all for Busch). But NASCAR definitely doesn't want drivers to be attacked by third parties and has discouraged such behavior through tough penalties to send a message.

Stenhouse Sr. is not a crew member, so it's a little easier for NASCAR to issue an indefinite suspension for his role. But he also took aggressive action against Busch, who is very frowned upon as a family member.

As for Myrick and Matthews, the penalties seem a bit severe compared to the past — especially for Myrick. Eight races is a lot, especially for a mechanic on a mid-sized team. But NASCAR must have felt Myrick was particularly over-the-top with his role, and it certainly sends a message to other crew members not to get involved in future fights.