NOVEMBER 14: The move is official, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel.
NOVEMBER 13: The Heat are hiring former NBA forward Caron Butler as an assistant coach on Erik Spoelstra‘s staff, a source tells Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link).
Having last appeared in the NBA in 2016 and having announced his retirement in 2018, Butler has spent the last few years working as a basketball analyst. When he retired, Butler said he intended to remain involved in the game “in some form or another” — this will be his first coaching role.
Butler, 40, averaged 14.1 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 881 career regular season games between 2002 and 2016, racking up 12,430 points over the course of his 14 NBA seasons. The two-time All-Star also appeared in 65 postseason games, winning a title with the Mavericks in 2011, though he was unable to suit up for Dallas during those playoffs due to an injury.
Although Butler only spent the first two years of his playing career with the Heat, he had a significant impact in those two seasons, per Reynolds, who notes (via Twitter) that Dwyane Wade credited Butler for teaching him everything he knows “about how to be a professional.” Spoelstra was an assistant on Miami’s staff during Butler’s stint with the team, so their relationship dates back nearly two decades.
Butler will help fill the hole on the Heat’s sidelines created when veteran assistant Dan Craig left for the Clippers.
Racine, WI’s finest. Congrats Caron… come back to Milwaukee some time to coach?
He gave you a good game as a player, at least until he became kind of a regular-citizen guy and shot 3s… odd to see him as a non-impact player. As a commentator… I don’t watch much espn… IDK
UCONN’s finest. Outstanding player and human being.
I still forget that Butler was a Laker too. I always pictured him as a Heat or Wizard.
It’s easy to forget about players who are on the Lakers these days.
I know, right? That is what winning rings does to you… meanwhile we can all remember every bum that plays for HOU because they never won or will ever win, right? SMH!
That from hwmvps makes no sense. Negative sense. Lakers were on tv until the end, winning a title, while hwmvps could only gnash his teeth and turn red in self-imposed frustration.