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.
Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler Needs One More Thing To ‘Be Like Mike’
Not only is Jordan considered thee most clutch basketball player ever, he is widely considered the most clutch athlete of all time. He hit several big shots in his career, including a gem over Bryon Russell to win his sixth NBA championship.
Jimmy Butler doesn’t need to be as good of a closer as Michael Jordan, but he does need to be better at it than he has been so far this season. Typically, Jimmy Butler has gone on to be one of the best closers in the NBA by year’s end.
Butler was relied upon to take and make shots as an All-Star and veteran on a younger Minnesota Timberwolves team.
When he was subsequently traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, he became the closer that they desperately needed for that team as well.
For the past two seasons, Jimmy Butler has been a great closer for the Miami Heat too. He doesn’t settle and is willing to attack the basket to get to the line or for easy buckets.
He is one of the best at drawing fouls and he has won several games for the Heat in this way. He has also hit some clutch jumpers from the midrange.
Again, that’s been in the seasons prior to this one though.
Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler’s Proven ‘Clutch’ Before, But Needs To Turn It On Now
However, that has not been the case this year or at least, it has not been enough to help the Heat win. While the Heat have been great this year and have led by double digits in nearly all of their games, there have been some games in which that lead was cut close by the end of the game.
In their second game against the Washington Wizards, this error proved to be a big issue and the Heat lost to the Wizards.
The Heat were up by as much as 16 points in this game. They had a ten-point lead with about four minutes to go.
And they still lost. That type of lead would never be blown with Michael Jordan as a leader.
He would have battled through the adversity. The refs… shots not falling… none of that would have mattered to His Airness.
The win would have still been secured with a closer like him. The win should have and needs to be secured by Jimmy Butler in those situations too.
Jimmy Butler has the mental toughness and the talent to be able to close out games. He just needs to do a better job at controlling the pace and trusting his teammates.
Butler is not the only one to blame for the Heat losing big leads in their games. In fact, some of those leads were cut down in games like the both against the Jazz, the second of which saw Jimmy Butler not play.
However, he is trusted with the ball in his hands near the end of games, meaning he’s supposed to be the guy there to shut the door for the Heat.
He will need to improve his decision making as the season progresses, to be sure the Miami Heat can maximize their potential. In the playoffs, this asset will be crucial.
If you had to make a choice though or bet on someone to be able to get it done more than they wouldn’t… Jimmy would’t be a bad bet.