As the NBA world continues to react to the blockbuster trade which will send Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Milwaukee Bucks, one player has asked the league to look into the Bucks for tampering.
Miami Heat guard Jimmy Butler posted to his Instagram story shortly after the trade and said, via Legion Hoops “The NBA, man, y’all need to look into the Bucks for tampering. You didn’t hear it from me, but I heard it from somebody. Y’all look at them for tampering.”
The video can be seen below.
Jimmy Butler reacts to Dame being traded to the Bucks:
“The NBA, man… y’all need to look into the Bucks for tampering. You didn’t hear it from me, but I heard it from somebody.” 👀🍿pic.twitter.com/sNOj5YBX5h
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) September 27, 2023
While it’s possible that he did hear something, it’s also possible that Butler is just upset that Lillard is going to the Bucks instead of joining Butler on the Miami Heat, the team Lillard was reportedly seeking a trade to, fueling rumors that spanned the entire offseason.
The Heat are no strangers to tampering allegations, either. Miami forfeited its second-round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft after an NBA investigation found that the team had talks with free agent Kyle Lowry before Lowry chose to sign there. Ironically enough, the Bucks were set to pick before the Heat in the second round of the 2022 draft but had their pick taken for tampering in a sign-and-trade for Bogdan Bogdanovic, a player Milwaukee ultimately did not even end up trading for.
If nothing else, Milwaukee and Miami’s first meeting of the season on October 30 should be interesting.
