Bernie Lee, Butler’s agent, posted a press release on X akin to Michael Jordan’s famous “I’m back” statement, which ended his first NBA retirement in 1995. Leaning into the Jordan theme — or troll — Butler posted photos on his Instagram story wearing the Jordan No. 45 Bulls uniform.

MIAMI — Jimmy Butler walked out of the Miami Heat locker room on Friday night wearing a Michael Jordan jersey. It wasn’t a No. 23 jersey. It was a No. 45 — the one Jordan briefly wore when he returned to the Chicago Bulls after coming out of retirement in March 1995.

In his current standoff with the Heat front office ( read: Pat Riley ), Miami attempted to avoid the “burn everything down” portion by suspending Butler seven games for conduct detrimental to the team ( read: attempting to force a trade ).