KEY POINTS

  • Jimmy Butler and Erik Spoelstra were caught having a heated argument early in the second half
  • Butler apparently started the altercation and Udonis Haslem went to defend the coach
  • The Heat would go on to lose to the Warriors, 114-108

Players and coaches getting heated during a game is nothing out of the ordinary as both sides expect the other to perform at a high level every single.

But there are times when the tension boils over to the point that it completely takes over the game.

The Miami Heat were forced to endure a 19-0 run against a Golden State Warriors team that did not have All-Stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, among others, to start the second half and had to take a timeout to talk things over.

In multiple angles of the incident shared across social media platforms, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and forward/guard Jimmy Butler were caught on camera having an argument.

The clip of the incident that was shot from an overhead camera from the NBA saw both Butler and Spoelstra being separated from one another, with the longtime Heat coach throwing a clipboard on the ground at Butler’s direction.

Veteran big man Udonis Haslem entered the fray and started jawing off at Butler before he too had to be restrained from fully going after Butler in what could have escalated into blows.

However, footage shot from a fan behind the Heat bench was posted on Reddit and showed what may have kicked off the incident.

Basing it off this new video, it appears that Butler had started the incident by dropping an expletive directed towards Spoelstra and Haslem was standing up for his coach.

Spoelstra was then caught mouthing “What, do you think I’m going to [expletive] fight you?” towards Butler and Haslem was fired up for the disrespect that the coach was receiving from his player, even threatening Butler that he would beat him up.

The video would cut there, seemingly tying in perfectly to what the NBA cameras were showing.

Miami would eventually cut back into the Warriors lead following the timeout, but would ultimately fall 114-108.

Warriors guard Jordan Poole would score a game-high 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and made 7-of-13 three-pointers while Heat point guard Kyle Lowry nearly had a double-double with a team-high 26 points and nine assists performance.

Following the loss, the Heat continue to have a tight grip on the top-seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 47-26, just two games ahead of last year’s NBA Champions the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Heat will then welcome the New York Knicks on Friday, March 25 before hosting the Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings to round out their four-game homestand.