How a Heat fan broke the Jimmy Butler news to Miami’s players: ‘Boys, we won the trade’

When Shant Solmaz received a special Christmas gift, he thought he knew what was in store. His girlfriend was taking him to a Philadelphia 76ers game to sit right behind the visiting Miami Heat bench.

Most of the Fort Lee, N.J., car salesman’s neighbors would take that opportunity to boo all night long, but Solmaz is a lifelong Heat fan. His father raised him on Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem. He saw Jimmy Butler dominate in Philly, then celebrated when the star guard brought his favorite team back to contention.

This was supposed to be Solmaz’s chance to see his favorite player up close. He was going to be within an earshot of all the conversations that happen on an NBA court.

Little did Solmaz know, he was about to be the one talking.

“I actually thought we were going to see Jimmy,” Solmaz told The Athletic. “But it was better than I thought.”

During the second quarter, Solmaz’s phone lit up. There it was: Butler to the Golden State Warriors, Andrew Wiggins and company to the Heat. The inevitable outcome that somehow seemed like it would never happen had finally arrived.

Players often find out they are getting traded from social media. These deals move so quickly that a front-office executive or agent can leak it to a reporter before they can even get a hold of their own player.

But this was a unique situation. None of the players had their phones. They were locked into the game. As thousands of people around them discovered the news, they were in the dark.

So, Solmaz quickly shook off his shock and came up with an idea. He was going to be the Heat’s in-person notification.

“I looked at my girlfriend and said, ‘Pull that camera up. I’m about to tell the team that Jimmy got traded,’” Solmaz said. “I had never seen anyone do it before, so I was like, you know what, I’m gonna take my chances. If I get in trouble, I get in trouble.”

The Heat fan knew he had to be careful with how he yelled toward the bench. If he said the wrong thing, he could’ve been ejected swiftly. He simply hollered, “Boys, we won the trade!”

Tyler Herro turned his head to see this jubilant fan wearing his jersey and, in disbelief, said, “What?”

Then, Jamie Jaquez Jr. and Kevin Love tuned in as Solmaz delivered the breaking news. Within minutes, Solmaz posted the video, and their interaction went viral.

“Somebody told me it on the bench during the game,” Love told reporters in Philadelphia after the game. “I kind of turned around; it caught my ear. Of course, I wanted to know all the info. I’ve been talking to these guys about how it all works with aprons and the new CBA and everything. So, I wanted to try and even understand where that could work.”

“I felt so bad for (Love),” Solmaz said. “He thought I was going to say his name, but I’m happy we kept him.

“They all looked relieved.”

Solmaz was resistant to alerting the team at first. He didn’t want to be the reason they lost focus and lose a game to a 76ers team fighting for Play-In Tournament position in the Eastern Conference standings.

Heat forward Nikola Jović told reporters after the game that coach Erik Spoelstra presumed everyone in the locker room knew at halftime, but he had no clue until after the final buzzer. Solmaz’s message reached some key players, but it appears they didn’t want Butler to once again become a distraction now that the saga was over.

For Solmaz, and for the Heat, there was a sense of relief. Butler was their hero for so long, but he decided to turn villain. Even his biggest fans couldn’t get over how he handled things.

“Before this situation, I loved him. He was honestly my favorite player on the team, and I respected him,” Solmaz said. “But the way he went about it was just unprofessional. That’s where he lost my respect a little, so that’s why I was happy to see him go.”

But he wasn’t nearly as thrilled as Love, Butler’s friend who has turned this scandal into viral content for a while now. He’s been posting movie references for weeks commenting on the Butler-Pat Riley feud. This doesn’t happen often: a player in the locker room publicly laughing at one of the most comically dramatic standoffs between a star and his franchise.

From Butler coloring his hair and shoes to match the colors of teams trying to trade for him to reportedly holding up a team flight, the hijinks were off the charts — and Love had more fun with it than anyone.

“I love it, and I’m all for it,” Solmaz said. “I think it lightened the mood in that locker room, because things were tense with all the (toxicity) that Jimmy brought. But I’m happy everything came to an end and a new chapter is here.”

Love became the star of Solmaz’s viral video, but he was always going to end this story with a post of his own.

“I think there’s a relief in the clarity and turning the page and moving forward,” Love said. “I think we got to see a lot of guys be able to step up. … Hopefully, it will be onward and upward for us.”

(Photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)