The leader of the Miami Heat on the court has been Jimmy Butler for the past two years. In his first year with the team, he led the Heat to their first NBA Finals appearance in six years.
In that series, Butler averaged a near triple-double, with 26.2 points, 9.8 assists, and 8.3 rebounds a game. He also became the first player to outscore, out-rebound, and out-assist LeBron James in an NBA Finals game.
Although Butler was spectacular the whole playoffs, with injuries to his co-stars and the talented opposition in the Los Angeles Lakers, his performance was not enough to bring the city of Miami another championship. This, ultimately, saw the series end in six games.
This past season and his second with the Miami Heat, Butler played well, but lost his energy in the playoffs. As a result, the Heat were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks.
If Jimmy Butler wants to go back to the Finals and deliver the Miami Heat their fourth NBA Championship, he should closely follow the career of the G.O.A.T., Michael Jordan. And before you balk too much, there are some similarities between each of them.
Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler And Michael Jordan Aren’t All That Different
While no one will confuse the two in the boxscores, there is a certain sameness about them.
The Similarities
First, their playstyles on the floor are actually pretty similar. Even though Jimmy Butler is more of a pass-first player and Jordan is a scorer, they both do their damage in the same areas.
Both are elite two-way players who take pride in their defense. Both have a skillful midrange game and can also attack inside with or without the ball.
Obviously, Jordan was more of a skilled player than Butler and had a larger arsenal of moves, such as his post game, but the similarities are still there.
Aside from the alignment of their play styles, what truly makes Butler similar to Michael Jordan is his basketball mentality.
Butler might not be the “killer” that will drop 40 points on anyone who gets in his way, but he does have that Jordan-esque work ethic and mental toughness. Jordan was known for pushing his teammates in practice.
Jimmy Butler does the same. Butler also thrives on guarding players who have beef with him.
For example, Butler and T.J. Warren got into a big argument in 2020. Here is a video of Butler kissing Warren goodbye after an altercation on the court.
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1215087251924844544?lang=en
When T.J. Warren emerged as one of the biggest surprise stories of the “Bubble”, Butler was confident that he would be able to stop him. And he did, as the Heat swept the Pacers.
Jordan was the same. However, He also always felt that he was unstoppable on offense.
On one occasion, as seen on ESPN’s The Last Dance, Jordan laughed when Gary Payton said that his defense on Jordan was tiring him out.
Miami Heat: Why Jimmy Butler Should Closely Study Michael Jordan’s Career
The reason Butler should closely examine the career of Michael Jordan is because of how he had to learn to win.
Why He Should Study His Career
Early in his career, Jordan scored an insane amount of points. One season, he averaged 37.1 points per game.
The next season, he averaged 35 points per game. The individual success Jordan had was spectacular.
However, he failed to reach the NBA Finals in any of these seasons. During the 1990-91 NBA season, Jordan had finally figured it out.
His points per game dropped a little bit (nevertheless, he still averaged over 30 per game), but he was able to trust his teammates more. Jordan had to learn when it was time to involve his teammates and when to be the elite scorer the Bulls needed him to be.
Last season, it looked as though Jimmy Butler was timid at times. He knew that he had to be one of the primary playmakers on the floor, but also understood that the roster lacked another go-to scorer.
As a result, his decision making and shot selection wasn’t always the best.
Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler Could Take A Few Off-Ball Cues From MJ
This year, Kyle Lowry will be joining the Miami Heat, giving them a third star that can help Butler operate the offense.
Playing Off The Ball
This means that Jimmy Butler can play more off the ball. With Lowry’s floor spacing and playmaking ability, Butler should be able to get more looks while cutting to the basket.
Aside from his shot creating ability, what made Michael Jordan such a great scorer was his off-ball movement. His quick feet allowed him to change directions with ease, which typically resulted in an open midrange jump shot or an inside shot.
Earlier in his career, he wasn’t in the right system to move off the ball, so his usage rate was sometimes very high and peaking at 38.6 percent in the 1985-86 season.
However, once Phil Jackson became the coach of the Bulls and the Triangle Offense was introduced, Jordan was much more efficient off the ball.
Here is some of the Bulls offense in action.
One of the best off-ball scorers in the modern NBA is Steph Curry. What makes him so great at it is that he continues to sprint through the whole play and effectively uses screens.
The difference between Curry and Butler is that Curry is the greatest three point shooter of all time. He plays off the ball to get more threes.
Butler is not nearly as efficient from three. He needs to cut to the basket to be effective off the ball.
For that reason, Butler should study Jordan’s off the ball movement. This doesn’t mean the Miami Heat should implement a Triangle Offense, however, they should start allowing Butler to come off of some more back screens and down screens from Bam Adebayo.
During Jordan’s era, the three pointer wasn’t as vital to the game as it is today. Therefore, Jordan didn’t take too many threes.
Instead, he made good cuts and developed some of the most skillful footwork we have ever seen. If Jimmy Butler is unable to become a consistent three point shooter, he needs to learn how to cut more effectively and more frequently.
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.
The whole series, Jordan was getting efficient buckets. In ESPN’s The Last Dance, we learned that during Game 5, Michael Jordan noticed that his teammate John Paxson was being left open.
Trust
Jordan trusted Paxson and instead of trying to do too much with his own scoring ability, he found the open man. As a result, Paxson scored a crucial 20 points as the Bulls won their first NBA title.
This trust continued for future seasons, with one example being during the 1993 Finals when, once again, John Paxson was trusted to take the big shots. Later on, it was Steve Kerr that Jordan trusted to help him in the clutch.
If Butler studies how Michael Jordan trusted his teammates, particularly in big moments, it will help to alleviate some of the pressure off of Butler. There are plenty of players on the Heat that can rise to the occasion.
For example, Tyler Herro proved in his rookie season that he is fearless and refuses to shy away from the moment. Jimmy Butler can be “the guy” if he needs to be, but he should understand and trust that his teammates will be able to support him with the help he needs.
Michael Jordan was one of the greatest winners in basketball, especially at the biggest stage. Understanding how he rose to greatness is important, but actually executing what he can teach is much more difficult.
Since Jimmy Butler has a similar mentality to Michael Jordan, he should be able to emulate some of Jordan’s basketball tendencies. If he is able to do that this year, the Miami Heat will have a serious chance to win a championship this year as well.