Miami Heat: Why Jimmy Butler Should Closely Study Michael Jordan’s Career

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) dribbles the basketball against the Milwaukee Bucks during the first period of game four in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs(Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports)
Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) dribbles the basketball against the Milwaukee Bucks during the first period of game four in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs(Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports)
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Miami Heat
Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) attempts a shot around New York Knicks guard RJ Barrett (9)(Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)

Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler Could Also Learn A Bit About Trust From Michael Jordan Too

Let’s return to Butler’s decision-making.

Playing With The Ball

Kyle Lowry will allow Butler to play more naturally off the ball while Lowry makes some of the decisions, but what happens when the ball is in Butler’s hands?

Again, Butler should watch 1990’s Chicago Bulls games. Jimmy Butler does not need to be the type of scorer Michael Jordan was, because he is clearly not as skilled as him.

What Jimmy Butler does need to study is when to take over games with shot creation and when to dish the ball out to others. In the 2020 NBA Finals, Jimmy Butler certainly showed he is capable of taking over games with his scoring.

The problem was that he dedicated so much of his energy towards getting wins in two games that it was nearly impossible to win two more, especially without his Miami Heat co-stars. As previously stated, Jordan easily scored over everyone in his early career, but with little to no playoff success in return.

One of the biggest examples of this was in the first-round of the 1986 NBA playoffs. Jordan set the single game playoff scoring record by dropping 63 points on Larry Bird’s Celtics, but the Bulls were still swept in the series.

Of course, the Bulls were outmatched by the talent of the Celtics at the time, but it still showed that no matter how incredible of a scorer Jordan was, he needed some help if he was going to win. Fast forward a few years and the Bulls were playing in their first NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.