The Miami Heat have been one of the best teams in basketball this season. A huge part of that is because of Jimmy Butler, who is having, statistically, his best season to date.
Over his career, Jimmy Butler has shown sparks that resemble the great Michael Jordan. This season, he has played particularly close to his playstyle.
Butler has been killing teams this year with his midrange fades. Michael Jordan dominated in the midrange.
Butler has been one of the best defenders on a lockdown Miami Heat team, similar to how the Bulls shut everyone down in the 1990s. Butler has also been good at attacking the basket and drawing fouls.
His efficiency in all of these areas has peaked this season. Although he is far from the best player in the NBA, he is starting to look like Michael Jordan out there, and people are starting to notice.
If Jimmy Butler is 1997 Michael Jordan then, yeah, we might need to re-think a few things.
— Couper Moorhead (@CoupNBA) November 21, 2021
The problem is this. Butler is missing one thing from his game right now that made Michael Jordan one of the greatest ever to play the game of basketball.
That… would be the clutch factor.