Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler should have a few things to prove

There is a ton of talk surrounding the Miami Heat’s newest acquisition and all of it isn’t good. These talking points should give Jimmy Butler something to prove.

The Miami Heat obviously made a lot of people upset when they were able to acquire Jimmy Butler. The very same Philadelphia 76’er fans that wanted him back like none other, were immediately spewing false and unapologetic rhetoric. From “he’s a loser” to “we didn’t want him back anyway”, you saw it all even if you weren’t exactly looking for it.

On top of the fans, there were pundits who even seemed as though they had an ax to grind about the move that the Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler were able to make. While there were quite a few and will surely be more, we documented one of these examples in specific. This one was a notion from Hall Of Famer Lisa Leslie, where she essentially said that Jimmy choosing Miami was a “loser move”.

That is exactly where we will start though. One of the things that Jimmy Butler will be looking to prove is that it wasn’t a “loser move”.

He probably came to Miami for many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is surely the Miami Heat Culture that is so famous around NBA circles. On top of that culture, this organization has a reputation for not only ensuring that their players are in the best possible shape and positions to win, but that they are also always looking for the next way to improve their chances of winning with Pat Riley at the helm.

That is the first thing that Jimmy will look to prove, that this was not only a move to get him to where he has seemingly wanted to be for over a year, but that it was a move that he made to win. If anybody can help a player of Jimmy Butler’s acumen achieve that goal and prove that it was a “winning” move, it is Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra. Butler obviously knew that too.

The second thing that Butler will likely be most eager to prove is that he is a winning player. Over the course of the last three or four seasons, since before he left the Chicago Bulls, there has been this notion surrounding Butler that he isn’t a team guy. The most common assumption made based on any guy that has achieved that label of not being a team guy is that he isn’t a winning player.

That notion wasn’t helped any when the news of his Minnesota Timberwolves practice tirade broke. Many saw that as just another episode in the selfish Jimmy Butler saga.

That could not be further from the truth though. If you watch the NBA with your own actual eyes and listen to things surrounding the league with your own actual ears, then it shouldn’t be that hard to understand what happened there.

The reports indicate that he was frustrated by the lack of effort and desire to win or to be the best that they could be among some of the Minnesota Timberwolves. If a player with Jimmy Butler’s hard-working mentality and makeup witnesses other players not giving that same amount of effort, energy, or care that he is, it is only in his DNA to act as he did.

Was he totally right in carrying it that way? Perhaps he wasn’t, but he wasn’t totally wrong either. They all came and worked hard every day while they all were compensated quite handsomely for their talents and abilities, but they are also all grown men and professionals who should be held accountable for their actions or lack of action.

No matter which way you slice it, these are two notions that Jimmy Butler will surely want to act upon and prove wrong. He will show that his joining the Miami Heat was indeed a winning move and in the process, he should prove that he is a winning player. These are just two of the more important things that Jimmy Butler will look to prove in this upcoming season.