Mike Bianchi: A plea to Magic players: Don't ever act like Jimmy Butler

ORLANDO, Fla. — This column is a plea — or maybe even a prayer — for the players on the Orlando Magic’s roster:

I beg you, please don’t ever turn into Jimmy Butler.

I’m talking to you Paolo Banchero.

I’m talking to you Franz Wagner.

I’m talking to you Jalen Suggs.

No matter how much you accomplish in the NBA or how big of a star you become, please continue to be a professional, show up for work, play hard, do your best, earn your paycheck.

Be like Kobe.

Not like Jimmy.

Don’t quit on your teammates.

Don’t quit on your city.

Don’t quit on your fans.

And don’t embarrass your league.

Jimmy Butler has turned that famous “Heat Culture” into an infamous “Heat Cluster.”

A real, um, Clustermuck.

The Miami Heat are a distracted, dysfunctional mess because Butler has decided he doesn’t want to play for them anymore. That’s right, Butler, who makes nearly $50 million a year, is trying to force a trade by not showing up for team flights, not playing hard and becoming a major distraction on and off the court.

This is not just a Jimmy Butler issue; this is a systemic issue that the NBA must address before it spirals further out of control. The league has allowed its players to amass unprecedented power, and while empowering athletes is not inherently bad, it has created a culture where some stars feel emboldened to hold their teams and fans hostage when things don’t go their way.

Call me old-school if you want (I plead guilty). Go ahead and say I’m naive and simply don’t understand the business of today’s big-time professional sports where players must use any leverage possible to get what they want (I plead guilty to that as well.)

I admit, I don’t understand. And I never, ever want to understand somebody who is paid $50 million a year to play a kid’s game and yet doesn’t show up for work and quits on his team. In a day and age when many sports fans can’t even find affordable housing or are struggling to come up with enough money to pay their surging home insurance premiums, to hell with Jimmy Butler and to hell with a league that allows him to get away with these shenanigans.

Where is NBA commissioner Adam Silver on all of this? Is he so soft and so buddy-buddy with the players that he is scared to speak out? A real leader would have been out in front of this and immediately sent a strong message to Butler and the rest of the players by telling them in so many words: “This sort of behavior will not be tolerated. Our league is paying Jimmy Butler $50 million a year to play professional basketball and, thus, we expect him to act like a professional and not spoiled brat.”

Instead of suspending Butler for a few games as the Heat have done twice, why doesn’t the NBA go to war with the National Basketball Players Association on this issue? In fact, I believe most NBA players — 99% of whom are dedicated, hard-working professionals — despise divas like Butler. They would probably welcome my idea, which would be a “Quitter’s Clause” in all player contracts.

Here’s how it would work: If you quit on your team, you are subject to indefinite suspension, your contract is nullified and no other team is allowed to sign you for a full year?

Boom.

Problem solved.

After all, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this type of behavior in the NBA. Anthony Davis, James Harden, Ben Simmons and others have moped and malingered their way into forced trades. The common denominator: The player gets exactly what he wants while the teams are left scrambling, and the fans are left disillusioned.

You heard me — fans. Remember them? Remember Larry and Linda Lunchpail and the millions of other hardworking men and women who save their money to buy tickets, jerseys and cable packages to watch their favorite teams and players? These are the people who make the NBA a multibillion-dollar enterprise. Without their loyalty and passion, there is no Jimmy Butler, no Miami Heat, no league.

Imagine being a Heat fan who spent thousands of dollars on season tickets to see Butler play, only to find out he’s sitting out or not giving full effort because he doesn’t want to be in Miami anymore. Butler is spitting in the face of the very people who make his $50 million-a-year salary possible.

And it’s not just Heat fans who suffer. This trend of diva discontent coupled with “load management” has broader implications for the league as a whole. Whether this growing fan frustration has affected or will affect attendance and TV ratings is up for debate.

But what’s irrefutable is that the NBA has a choice to make: Continue down this path, allowing a select few players to wield disproportionate power at the expense of the league’s integrity or take a stand and come up with a solution that protects teams, fans, and the game itself.

It’s time for the NBA to remember who it’s really serving. Not the stars. Not the owners. But the fans. Without them, there is no multibillion-dollar TV contract, there is no Jimmy Butler, there are no $50 million-a-year contracts and there is no league.

If the NBA continues to allow this culture of entitlement to fester, it risks alienating its most loyal supporters. Every sport’s popularity is built on the connection between players and fans, and when that connection is eroded, everyone loses — the team, the players and the sport itself.

That’s a reality that Adam Silver and the NBA cannot afford to ignore.