The Miami Heat landed Jimmy Butler this past summer and everybody had a take on it. Well, today, it was Jimmy’s turn to fire back and he did just that.
The Miami Heat are off to a 5-1 start and equipped with two mega-wins as apart of that number. They came against the Houston Rockets in a drubbing and a road-win against the Milwaukee Bucks. They are tied for the second-best record in the entire league, only behind the record of conference foe and rival in the Philadelphia 76ers(5-0), while they are tied at 5-1 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
This is a strange development though, considering that the rest of the league, sports, and NBA world found it quite convenient and appropriate to poo-poo the Butler to Miami move when the news first broke. Hearing things like “he just came to retire” or “he doesn’t care about winning titles”, Butler was apparently fed up. This was among quite a few topics that Butler addressed in a sit-down with Chris B Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
While he took the time to address his critics and haters, who again conveniently decided to reveal themselves after it was announced that he was joining the Miami Heat, he also finally clarified something that the Miami Heat Faithful have sort of known for a while. Here is a quote from the piece that directly hits the target on what we mean here.
"It was a move largely perceived as abandoning championship aspirations in favor of basking in the sun with little to no pressure of winning.“I tried to get to Miami earlier than June, if you remember me coming out of Minnesota,” Butler told Yahoo Sports, referring to his trade request last season. “So, people are overlooking all the facts.”"
“All the facts” were the words Butler used here, and a good choice of words it was. It has been a well-known rumor for quite a while now that Jimmy Butler‘s ultimate move or destination choice was to be in Miami and subsequently playing for the Miami Heat.
While this was the most pertinent thing to the Miami Heat Faithful, this validation, there were quite a few more jewels in this piece as well. Butler hinted at a situation, to say the least, that occurred in Philadelphia and that he says definitely played a part in his decision.
He also addressed the Miami Heat’s chances, goals, and expectations this season. On top of clarifying that he always wanted to be in South Beach, he also illustrated why he felt so strongly about this team and continues to feel that way.
"“When I look down the line and as we’re talking about it as an organization on this roster, I know what these guys are capable of. These guys are built like me. We’re one in the same and so they’re only going to get better and they’re not going to get complacent. This is me. I see myself in every one of these guys around this locker room.”"
We already knew that Buckets, but it’s good to hear you say it. We’ve talked about it for quite a while, with that being the fact that Jimmy Butler, the Miami Heat, Erik Spoelstra, and Pat Riley were all tailor-made for each other. When you start to think about Heat Culture and/or the Miami Heat way, Jimmy Butler is the walking, talking, breathing personification of that very concept.
He was always meant to be a member of the Miami Heat, he knew it and so do we. Now, the rest of the world should know it as well.