"Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler will make his return tonight against Denver Nuggets after serving a 7-game suspension and he’s expected to be in the starting lineup," wrote Haynes

Jimmy Butler has officially made his return to the Miami Heat, stepping back into the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Denver Nuggets at the Kaseya Center. This marks

In big-time sports, all sorts of sins can be overlooked in the name of talent. Assault and battery? Domestic abuse? Weapons charges? If you can run fast enough or jump high enough, those are issues a forgiving franchise can massage into minor infractions. What about the crime of being a serial pain in the ass? It depends.

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler took a page out of NBA legend Michael Jordan's book to announce his return to the lineup versus the Denver Nuggets on Friday.

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.

MIAMI — Jimmy Butler walked out of the 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 Bulls after coming out of retirement in March 1995.

It wasn’t easy for Herro to get over the feelings of resentment and rejection that come with returning to a team that seemed on the verge of trading you. It took some soul-searching and a few candid conversations with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and the front office to get everyone back on the same page.

Kevin Love is chronicling teammate Jimmy Butler and the trade drama with the Miami Heat with an impressive knowledge of pop culture on Instagram.

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 ).

There was no pretense of Butler being a vibrant part of the Heat for Friday’s game. He shot by himself in warmups. There was none of the choreographed palm-slapping with teammates that’s a typical part of any pregame. Kevin Love did run out to him just before the center-tap and shake hands. It looked like the first time they’d seen each other.

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