MIAMI >> The Miami Heat suspended Jimmy Butler for seven games on Friday and said they will seek to trade him.
The Heat said the suspension was for “conduct detrimental to the team over the course of the season and particularly the last several weeks.”
“Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team,” the Heat said in a statement, one day after Butler said in a postgame press conference that he does not believe he can be happy playing in Miami going forward.
Butler will lose about $336,543 per game during the suspension, or about $2,355,798 in all. He has the right to an appeal, which could lessen the financial hit.
Butler will not be with the team for its home game Saturday against Utah and then the totality of a six-game road trip to Sacramento, Golden State, Utah, Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers.
In theory, the earliest that Butler could play again for the Heat is Jan. 17 at home against Denver. But he has likely played for Miami for the final time.
“Jimmy Butler and his representative have indicated that they wish to be traded, therefore, we will listen to offers,” the Heat said.
It’s a turnaround from a week ago, when Heat President Pat Riley said that the team would not trade Butler.
Track and field
US Olympic runner Kerley arrested following confrontation with police >> U.S. Olympic runner Fred Kerley has been arrested in South Florida following a confrontation with police, authorities said.
Body camera footage released by Miami Beach police shows Kerley arguing with a group of officers late Thursday before a physical confrontation erupted. Kerley was wrestled to the ground, where an officer stuck him several times and then used a Taser on the 29-year-old sprinter, police said.
According to an arrest report, officers were investigating an unrelated active police scene when Kerley approached the area and attempted to force his way through to his vehicle, which was parked nearby. Officers had told Kerley to go around the area, but Kerley began to argue with them, which led to a shoving match with police.
Four officers tried to take Kerley into custody while he moved to evade arrest, officials said. After being stunned with the Taser, Kerley was taken to a local hospital and then to the Miami-Dade County jail.
Kerley is charged with battery, resisting an officer and disorderly conduct. Online court records didn’t immediately list an attorney for Kerley, and USA Track & Field, the national governing body for track and field in the U.S., declined to comment on the arrest.
College football
First responder Bowl >> Jordan McCloud threw for 307 yards and a touchdown, Lincoln Pare ran for a 73-yard touchdown with 2:25 remaining in the fourth quarter and Texas State held off North Texas 30-28 in the First Responder Bowl.
Texas State (8-5) secured eight wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1981-82. North Texas (6-7) was seeking its first bowl win since the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl.
Pare carried 21 times for 143 yards and two touchdowns. His first score, from 1-yard out, capped a 13-play, 75-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes to give Texas State a 23-14 lead midway through the third quarter.
Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl won’t swap kickoff times, dates >> The College Football Playoff won’t swap kickoff dates and times for the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl to give Notre Dame more time between games.
Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey had asked the CFP if it would be possible to switch up the schedule because Notre Dame will have a shorter turnaround than Penn State heading into next Thursday’s Orange Bowl. The Fighting Irish’s quarterfinal game in New Orleans was postponed by one day because of a deadly terror attack.
“We’re not going to flip the games,” CFP executive director Rich Clark told ESPN.
Notre Dame advanced with a 23-10 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia on Thursday.