The Heat plan to have a tribute video for Jimmy Butler when he returns to the Miami for the first time since he was traded to the Warriors on Tuesday. Butler says he’ll watch it but that “it makes no difference.”
Butler’s ugly exit from Miami included a trade demand and three team-imposed suspensions and he’s still unhappy about the way the front office handled it, according to the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang.
“You can talk about it whenever we talk about it later on,” he said. “But I think the suspensions are more because they just didn’t want me to be around the team. It wasn’t anything I actually did because I didn’t do anything too drastic to deserve X amount of games being suspended. But it is what it is. Yeah, I got some bills. So what, it’s all taken care of.”
Butler added that he’s used to being portrayed as the villain.
“I’m always painted as the bad guy. Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve always been the problem,” he said. “So we’ll take it. I don’t got nothing to say. I’m not mad at being the bad guy. It’s all the way that everything is portrayed. Some people talk to the media, some people don’t. I’ve never been one to tell my side of the story to almost anybody. Let everybody think that this is what happened and we’ll ride with it.”
We have more on the Heat:
- How do the Heat players feel about the showdown with Butler and the Warriors? Chiang relays some of their reactions. “It’s going to be exciting,” second-year forward Jaime Jaquez said. “I’m sure this place is going to be jumping. We’re excited, I’m sure he’s going to be. It’s going to be an epic battle, for sure.” Bam Adebayo said, “I feel like it’s going to be high intensity, it’s going to be a great game for both teams and we’ll see who walks out with the W.” Tyler Herro, who’s become the top offensive threat after the Butler trade, says he’s just focused on the team finishing strong. “It will be fun,” he said. “I think it’s another game for us, honestly. We just came off a 10-game losing streak. We got bigger things to worry about. At this point, we just need to win games. Obviously, Jimmy is coming back here. But it’s a regular game.”
- Andrew Wiggins — one of the players acquired in the Butler deal — carried the Heat out of the darkness of their lengthy losing streak. He poured in a season-high 42 points in a 122-105 win over Charlotte on Sunday to snap a 10-game skid. “We all played connected,” Wiggins told Chiang. “I feel like my team helped me get in great spots to be successful and make some shots on the court.”
- With Friday night’s 16 points and 14 rebounds in a loss to the Rockets, Kel’el Ware became only the fifth rookie over the Heat’s 37 seasons to record at least 10 double-doubles, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel notes. Udonis Haslem was the most recent rookie to achieve that prior to Ware. “He’s being fed through a firehose,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Ware.
The Warriors drafted Chris Webber. They had to trade him. He was willing to sit out the next season because he didn’t want to play Center. The Warriors traded for a Center, but that didn’t resolve the problem.
In the end, he ended his career with the Warriors, had number retired by the Kings, and is in the HoF. This will blow over soon enough.
The Warriors had a great draft pick that year and I always think of if they only had that pic a year earlier.
Then they could’ve selected Alonzo Mourning instead of Chris Webber.
Same size guy maybe 6-9 or 6-10, 240 but with a different mindset. Warriors would’ve been set at center for five years.
I like you mentioned that. The original trade from Penny Hardaway and picks to Orlando for Chris Webber to Golden State. Then coach Don Nelson loved small ball and wanted Webber at C. Webber who is a 6’10 PF wanted to only be a PF
All Golden State had to do was trade Billy Owens for a center and Webber to PF but no so Webber forced a trade.
They had Chris Mullen, Sprewell, Avery Johnson (Spurs PG), Chris Gatling and Billy Owens. Should have traded Owens and maybe Gatling for a defensive center and they could have been maybe a championship team…
I think if Tim Hardaway didn’t tear his ACL at the very beginning of the season, they could’ve won a lot of games and perhaps Chris Webber would’ve been happy for the whole season and then wanted it out in the off-season?
But plugging in Avery Johnson for the injured Hardaway did not Help the explosive offense where Webber could’ve been more of a wing on offense and then be OK with playing center on defense for at least the year.
But yes, Luke, even bringing in Rony Siekley didn’t help. Webber wanted to play more of a facilitator because his favorite player was Magic Johnson who was 6-9. So even power forward was not attractive to Chris. He probably wanted to be more of a point forward like Don Nelson had in Paul Pressey. Oh well, things happen.
Ugh…Even if Webber had stayed, they still had Sprewell to deal with…
I was just trying to bring up the idea that people over idealize athletes. Butler isn’t perfect, but Miami probably went further then they would have gone without him. They didn’t have Webber, or Sprewell, to deal with.
And yes, Butler does have a chip on his shoulder. But, he wasn’t a one-and-done guy that everyone fawns over these days. He started out at a JC, and played 4 years. He was drafted #30. So, he had to work to get where he is.
Don Nelson didn’t necessarily love small ball. He had to innovate to deal with the lose of Kareem or get fired like his predecessor. He won 5 rings as player with the 6’9″ Bill Russell. That innovation carried him to 1,300 wins and the HoF.
Butler says everywhere he’s been he’s been called the problem.. but it is what it is. Maybe he should start looking in the mirror and realize he is causing the problems.
Exactly…
3 teams have suffered the same cancerous fate… A 4th will hughly likely as well…
He’s 35 years old and the Warriors are 16-4 with Jimmy, at this point, if you can’t see it’s the loser teams run by incompetent and egomaniac FO’s who are the problem, then you simply hate all NBA players and there is nothing Jimmy can do that will make you treat him fairly.
He’s viewed as a bad guy because he IS a bad guy!
Except he has been the perfect teammate at GSW. So, you just hate him because you are a hater. Simple. There’s zero he can actually do that will make you think otherwise about him, that’s a YOU problem.
It irks me because the media is showing the narrative to grow that Best culture was the problem. no. The culture was great until a 35 yo Butler who’s missed 20 games a year for the last 4 seasons wanted a max contract with $56 mil left on his deal. now these idiots like SAS are using their inability to bring in KD , Lillard into Miami staying it was because those guys didn’t want to be in Miami when in reality they were under contract, Miami had no cap space and Tyler Hero, Duncan Robinson didn’t have enough appeal and they wanted to keep Bam.
Or it’s all egomaniac senior citizen Pat Riley’s fault. I think that is the truth. Making the bubble Finals isn’t anything to hang your hat on with regards to “culture” and tbh all these teams who tout “culture” usually never win a title.
If Jimmy played bad and GSW faltered when he joined, you would have a point. But 16-4 says you do not.