The NBA fined Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler $15,000 for making an obscene gesture and fined the team the same amount for sharing it as a GIF on social media.
The incident occurred near the Heat bench with 1:43 left in the second quarter in Tuesday night’s Game 5 victory against the Atlanta Hawks.
Butler, 32, a six-time All-Star, was in street clothes for the game after being ruled out with right knee inflammation.
The NBA also fined Heat forward Markieff Morris $25,000 for interfering with live game play while on the bench in Tuesday’s game.
That incident occurred in the third quarter. Morris grabbed and held Hawks guard De’Andre Hunter out of bounds, preventing Hunter from re-establishing himself inbounds as he caught a pass from a teammate. Morris was hit with a technical foul.
The Eastern Conference’s top-seeded Heat won the contest, 97-94, and the series, 4-1, to move on to the second round of the playoffs.
Butler averaged 30.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.8 steals during the first four games of the first-round series.
–Field Level Media
