Publicly, Jimmy Butler hasn't shared much about his exit from the Miami Heat or his thoughts on the organization since he was traded on Feb. 6.
And given the messiness of the breakup, that makes sense. He recently sat down with The Athletic to discuss his new fit with the Golden State Warriors. Still, he couldn't help but make a comment about his former team that quickly made the rounds on social media.
Specifically, Butler talked about Heat Culture, and how real it might be.
Butler says “Heat Culture” is overused.
“There was some foundation to it in the sense of the work and all that stuff, which is great," Butler said. "I’m not saying it in a bad way, but I think it’s a little bit, like, overused talking about the ‘Heat Culture.’ It is a great organization.
But I think a large part of that culture is you get guys that buy into a (winning mindset). You get some guys that buy in, you get some really good players and you get the opportunity to talk about ‘Heat Culture’ a little bit more. I’m not saying it to talk down or anything, but I think whenever you have really good players you can name it whatever you want to name it.”
Two cents: He’s… not wrong… You could argue that “Heat Culture” became overused as soon as the organization marketed it and put it on the front of a jersey.
But when Butler explains that the culture is getting good players to buy in, he’s also right about that. “Heat Culture” is just a specific flavor of organizational culture, which by definition, exists in every organization. Not all organizational cultures are good, and not all are bad.
What makes “Heat Culture” effective is that it’s been defined in the same basic way for decades because of the front office’s stability, and how quickly the organization is able to establish that buy-in with new players. But, as Butler said, NBA teams still need good players to win.