The Miami Heat weren’t able to take their first game, by no fault of Jimmy Butler’s though.
The Miami Heat were unfortunately defeated in their season opener against the Orlando Magic. While we would have loved to get things started brightly and on the right foot, it wasn’t to be on Wednesday night and that is ok, as the Magic are always a tough out and matchup for Miami.
That’s at any point of the season and regardless of the records. Even though they were defeated though, the guys still played a good game for their first one of the season.
We need them to drastically cut down on the turnovers in game two on Christmas but as far as effort and want to, it was apparently there. It was more apparent for some than others though.
That’s where we want to focus today. Specifically, we want to talk a bit about Jimmy Butler.
Jimmy will do whatever it takes to win. We absolutely mean “whatever” it takes.
The Miami Heat are all heart. Especially Jimmy Butler.
On Wednesday, that might have meant playing on a bum ankle. Although he had just tweaked it earlier in Wednesday’s game, he seemed to really be battling with it out there at times.
However, based on the effort and manner with which he continued to play the game, you couldn’t really tell unless you paid close attention to those moments where he was stationary. That’s where the ankle really seemed to catch him the most.
Tweaks and injuries happen in pro sports, I get that, but here is the point. In just game one of the regular season, Jimmy already has an unfortunate tweak but in also just game one of the season, Jimmy decided to tough it out.
That’s his gift and his curse. He is such a tough guy and willing to do whatever for the team, that sometimes he needs to actually think about what’s best for Jimmy.
Ironically enough, since this is so early on in the year, that would also be what’s best for the team as a whole. All in all, I’d rather have him as close to fully healthy for more of the season than winning a season opener against Orlando 100 times in a row.
It’s really that simple. That’s his gift and his curse though, wanting to win so bad that he’ll do anything to accomplish it, even if it means hurting himself a little in the long run.
You love to see it from him and anyone else on the Miami Heat’s roster for that matter. However, we need him healthy for the entirety of the season, at least most of it and in order to do that, he may need to be saved from himself on some nights.