Jimmy Butler fined $25,000 by NBA

Miami’s Jimmy Butler was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) for not participating in required media availability after Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Butler did not talk to reporters following the Heat’s 128-102 victory on Sunday that gave them a 3-0 lead over the Boston Celtics.

The Heat can win the series and advance to the NBA Finals with a victory Tuesday night.

NBA TV, which has been televising the postgame press conferences, teased that Butler would be coming to the podium during its coverage, but the star forward never appeared.

Gabe Vincent, Bam Adebayo and Caleb Martin instead followed coach Erik Spoelstra.

Meanwhile, Golden State’s Stephen Curry was selected as this season’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion, the NBA announced.

The league will donate $100,000 on Curry’s behalf to the University of San Francisco Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice. He is the third winner of the award after Carmelo Anthony in 2021 and Reggie Bullock last year.

Curry’s off-court interests related to social justice are many. He’s a co-chairman of former first lady Michelle Obama’s “When We All Vote” initiative to help drive voter registration, education and turnout. He participated in the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition’s “Freedom to Vote” social media campaign to help advocate for the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act in the US Senate.