Jimmy Butler gets his return game in Miami. The Heat rolled to a win and many in the crowd booed

MIAMI (AP) — Some fans cheered his introduction. Many jeered him. And whenever he got the ball over the next four quarters, there was plenty of booing from all sides of the arena.

In the end, Jimmy Butler's return to Miami couldn't have gone better for the Heat.

The Heat paid tribute to Butler’s 5½ seasons with the team with a pregame video on Tuesday night, shown in the arena as part of the introduction of the Golden State Warriors’ starting lineup for the game. Those were about the only highlights for the Warriors, with Butler scoring 11 points in a 112-86 loss.

“I got a lot of love for this city, for the fanbase here,” Butler said afterward. “The video was nice. I won't say there was a lot of emotions, though.”

Butler appeared to watch the roughly 40-second pregame video, as he said he would, though added that it didn’t matter to him whether the Heat did one or not. He got the full-throated introduction from Heat public-address announcer Michael Baiamonte — “Jim ... my ... Butlerrrrr” — just as he did when he played for Miami and waved to acknowledge the sounds from the stands.

It was unusual, though. And it did take Butler a couple extra seconds to figure out where to go when he arrived at the arena.

“I was confused,” Butler said. “Haven't been on this side in a minute.”

He’s insisting that there’s no hard feelings between he and the Heat now, a month and a half after he was traded to the Warriors following a contentious breakup that saw him suspended by Miami three times in his final weeks with the team.

The video included a slew of Butler's highlights from the Heat era, including the iconic image of him, exhausted, slumped over a courtside barrier during a game in the NBA bubble in 2020.

“The energy in the building was great," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “If you’re a competitor, you love this kind of environment. We didn’t do any kind of extra motivational speech.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr might not necessarily believe that.

“I think the main part of Jimmy's return was the Heat were ready, and Spo had them ready,” Kerr said.

It was an important game for the Heat, who are fighting to regain standings ground that was lost in a 10-game losing streak that ended earlier this week. And it was one of their most inspired efforts of the season, never trailing, holding the Warriors to 40% shooting and connecting on a wild 68% of their 3-point tries.

“Was this like a regular game? Yeah, I think so,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said. “The circumstances, who was coming in here, we were ready a little more. But for me, it was a regular game.”

Butler wasn’t happy with the Heat over not getting an extension and had issues with his role in the final weeks of his time there. The Heat weren’t happy with how he missed about 25% of their games during his tenure with the club and how he took his complaints public in the final months.

Butler got his extension — two years, $111 million — from the Warriors, and Golden State is now 16-4 in his first 20 appearances. In fairness, two of those four losses, including Tuesday's loss, came with Stephen Curry out of the Warriors' lineup.

“We definitely need 30 back,” Butler said, referring to Curry by his jersey number. “We want him to be right. We're still expected to put up a better effort than we put up the last two games. But if he's back, I think it's going to be different.”

Fans, as they tend to be when a top player leaves their team, have not been shy about hiding their anger with Butler on social media. Butler knows things didn’t end well in his Miami tenure, though notes that he believes there’s more than enough blame to go around for the messy breakup.

“I wonder if they look at the Heat the same way,” Butler said. “It ain’t like I was the one who was doing everything. It’s got to be 50-50, maybe 51-49 — 49 towards them, 51 towards me. But there’s no way that I was the cause of all of this.”

Butler wound up being suspended for a total of 14 Heat games before the trade. But the Heat have a tradition of welcoming back players who were All-Stars or champions with the team; Butler was an All-Star in Miami who led the team to three Eastern Conference finals berths and two trips to the NBA Finals.

He was booed when he touched the ball after the game started, though there were some cheers when he scored Golden State's first basket of the contest. Not much else went Butler's way, and when the final buzzer sounded he greeted a couple friends courtside before heading toward the Warriors' locker room.

The Warriors have an off day in Miami on Wednesday, giving Butler another day with his kids — the family is still in South Florida — before his team leaves for New Orleans on Thursday.

“This one's over with,” Butler said. “Put it behind us, go eat some food and enjoy the sunshine tomorrow.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) drives to the basket as Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler hugs former teammate Miami Heat forward Kevin Love before the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Golden State Warriors forwards Jimmy Butler (10) and Draymond Green (23) talk during a time out in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Miami Heat fan Arlene Hernandez jeers former player and current Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III, left and members of the team look up from the sidelines during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler arrives at the Kaseya Center for an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler arrives at the Kaseya Center for an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top vaccine official with the Food and Drug Administration has resigned and criticized the nation’s top health official for allowing “misinformation and lies” to guide his thinking behind the safety of vaccinations.

Dr. Peter Marks sent a letter to Acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner on Friday saying that he would resign and retire by April 5 as director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

In his letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press, Marks said he was “willing to work” to address the concerns expressed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., about the safety of vaccinations. But he concluded that wasn't possible.

“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” he wrote.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment.

Marks was offered the choice of resigning or being fired by Kennedy, according to a former FDA official familiar with the discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he didn’t have permission to discuss the matter publicly.

Kennedy has a long history of spreading anti-vaccine misinformation, although during his Senate confirmation hearings he seemed to say he would not undermine vaccines. He promised the chair of the Senate health committee that he would not change existing vaccine recommendations.

Since becoming commissioner, Kennedy has vowed to scrutinize the safety of childhood vaccinations, despite decades of evidence they are safe and have saved millions of lives.

Marks oversaw the agency’s rapid review and approval of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments during the pandemic.

Marks is credited with coining the name and concept for “Operation Warp Speed,” the effort under President Donald Trump to rapidly manufacture vaccines while they were still being tested for safety and efficacy. The initiative cut years off the normal development process.

Despite the project’s success, Trump repeatedly lashed out at the FDA for not approving the first COVID shots even sooner. Trump told confidants after his 2020 loss that he would have been re-elected if the vaccine had been available before Election Day.

Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, criticized what he called the “firing” of Marks.

“RFK Jr.’s firing of Peter Marks because he wouldn’t bend a knee to his misinformation campaign now allows the fox to guard the hen house," Offit said. “It’s a sad day for America’s children.”

Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said the issues raised in Marks' resignation letter “should be frightening to anyone committed to the importance of evidence to guide policies and patient decisions.”

“I hope this will intensify the communication across academia, industry and government to bolster the importance of science and evidence,” he wrote.

The resignation follows news Friday that HHS plans to lay off 10,000 workers and shut down entire agencies, including ones that oversee billions of dollars in funds for addiction services and community health centers across the country.

In a post on social media Thursday, Kennedy criticized the department he oversees as an inefficient “sprawling bureaucracy." He also faulted the department’s 82,000 workers for a decline in Americans’ health.

The resignation is the latest blow to the beleaguered health agency, which has been rocked for weeks by layoffs, retirements and a chaotic return-to-office process that left many staffers without permanent offices, desks or other supplies. Last month, Jim Jones, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods, resigned, citing “the indiscriminate firing” of nearly 90 staffers in his division, according to a copy of his resignation letter obtained by the AP.

Marks, who could not be reached for comment, also raised concerns in his letter about “efforts currently being advanced by some on the adverse health effects of vaccination are concerning” as well as the “unprecedented assault on scientific truth that has adversely impacted public health in our nation.”

He went on to detail the historic benefits of vaccinations dating back to George Washington and pointed to the ongoing measles outbreak as proof of what can happen when doubts about science take hold.

“The ongoing multistate measles outbreak that is particularly severe in Texas reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined,” he wrote.

The measles outbreak, which could go on for months, has now spread to Kansas and Ohio after sickening more than 370 in Texas and New Mexico.

If it hits other unvaccinated communities across the U.S., as may now be the case in Kansas, the outbreak could endure for a year and threaten the nation’s status as having eliminated the local spread of the vaccine-preventable disease, public health experts said.

Casey reported from Boston. Perrone reported from Washington, D.C.

FILE - Dr. Peter Marks, Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research within the Food and Drug Administration testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing to examine an update from Federal officials on efforts to combat COVID-19, Tuesday, May 11, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool via AP, File)