Jimmy Butler doesn’t want his return to Miami on Tuesday to be a dramatic event for him or his team, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
Butler, who repeatedly clashed with Heat officials before being traded to the Warriors at last month’s deadline, said he views it as just “another game.” It’s an experience he’s been through several times already after leaving the Bulls, Timberwolves and Sixers.
“Yeah, I was traded from there, yada, yada, yada,” Butler said after Saturday’s loss in Atlanta. “Yeah, it didn’t end the way that people wanted to, yada yada yada. But that’s so far behind me now. I don’t even think about it. I don’t pay attention to nothing except for the trajectory of this squad.”
It was a little more than six weeks ago that the Heat were trying to find their way out of a toxic situation with Butler. He was suspended three times this season — the last one being indefinite — as they searched for someone to take him off their hands. Phoenix was his preferred destination, but Miami couldn’t work out a deal without taking back Bradley Beal in return. The Warriors became a late option after their efforts to land Kevin Durant from the Suns fell through.
The teams have been on much different paths since the trade was completed. Golden State has surged to sixth place in the West, holding a 16-4 record since acquiring Butler. Miami, which is on a 10-game losing streak, has gone 4-17 while falling to 10th in the East.
Butler can probably expect a mixed response from what’s sure to be a boisterous crowd at the Kaseya Center. Although fans might blame him for destroying this season, he’s still beloved for helping the Heat reach the NBA Finals twice in his five and a half seasons with the team.
“Not really, don’t make no difference,” Butler responded when asked if he has any concerns about how fans will react. “I’m a member of the Golden State Warriors. I love that fan base. They showed me a lot of love while I was there. But I’m there to win now. I’m on the opposing team.”
He added that the Heat were “all right” while he played there and made some “cool runs,” but they weren’t able to accomplish their goal of winning an NBA title.
Tuesday’s game will also be a reunion for ex-Warriors Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Anderson, who were sent to Miami in the five-team deal. Wiggins spent five years with Golden State and played an important role in winning the 2022 title. Anderson was in his first season with the Warriors after being traded there in July.
“We got Jimmy over here, I know this is a big game for him,” Draymond Green said. “They got Wiggs over there. I know it’s a huge game for him. We want to win for Jimmy, they’re going to want to win for Wiggs. We got to come out ready to play.”
Just expect the boos to reign down on him. Anytime a player leaves a team on bad terms they get the boos.
More important thing is Clippers are likely to take down Warriors on standing today
Jalen Williams and LuDort are OUT today
Clippers are having all the luck lately playing teams down players. Also has one of the easiest schedule the last 10 games. Playing only 2 tough teams. Would be fun if it came to the last game of the season.
Not possible. Warriors own the tie breaker. Clippers need to 2 more games than the Warriors to climb the ladder.
Clippers own the tie breaker.
Oopps
You underestimate okc
Because they are paid to much to care. Just like the all star game and not one person being competitive out there
Good for Jimmy turning the page. Those people in Miami (both the organization and fans) didn’t deserve him. They were so unfair to him, expecting him to play regularly and honor the contract that he signed. They didn’t put the respect on Jimmy that he deserved.
“It’s just like the other 3 places I have worn out my welcome. However, I am not the problem.”
– Jimmy Butler
He would not deny that he’s the problem. He openly and explicitly makes himself a problem until he gets what he wants.
Guess what? It’s worked every time.
Shame on you Butler. If GS doesn’t get a title then you were no better than Andrew Wiggins
He’s already been better than Wiggins
He was never better than Wiggins…
Wiggins has a title whilst carrying Draymond…
Wiggins got a title, so how would he be no better than Wiggins if he LOST?
Great players always have attitudes. It goes with the territory.
Ahh Dylan Brooks must be a 2 time MVP lmao. Stop yapping.
Do you think Wilt, Bird, Jordan etc acted like Debutants looking for Princess Charming.
Great players have attitudes.
So wingspan and attitudes are what you look for in your NBA player
Do you believe that players without killer instincts win titles?
GSW fans are worried he’s going to mail it in after the lack of defense last night in Atlanta.
If the Heat’s losing streak hits 11 today it’s going to be tough on Jimmy!
lack of defense in the first quarter. they played better after the 1st. Seems like they always start out cold on the road in the first game. Kerr should have went to a zone defense not allow a bench player to score 24 points hitting 3s.
Did y’all hear that collective ‘MMHM’? Another game… Those suspensions cost Jimmy Butler millions. He’s gonna try to burn the Heat.
Yep, this is a major revenge game coming directly after a bad loss. Jimmy might go off super hard.
It’s gonna be hilarious if they can’t beat the heat without Curry
Clueless Kerr sat Jimmy when he was on fire, and GSW lost the game because Jimmy was sitting on the bench, getting rest he clearly did not need, as the game got out of hand when he was off the court.
Almost all GSW losses are due to Kerr sitting his best players as the game gets further out of reach. GSW will get the lead down to 4-5 points, Kerr will always sit the guy who is on fire, the lead goes back up to 10-15. Every time. Also Kerr’s 1Q gameplans are disgusting, he lets bad matchups get way out of hand before making a move. The Hawks bigs controlled that entire game and it took Kerr til the 3Q to play TJD. Why why why won’t he ever play 2 of Looney, TJD and Post at the same time? We need TWO BIGS out there sometimes!!!
Brilliant stuff, Davey. I think you have better ideas about how to coach the Warriors than Steve Kerr does. That guy has a clear track record of losing. How has he lasted this long again?
“How has he lasted this long again?”
From riding Steph Curry’s coattails. Then, now, forever. His record without Curry is 74-110 – that is who he really is as a HC, a net-negative. A good coach would be able to win with who he has. Kerr has NEVER won a game where his best players were out with injury, almost all other HC’s do.
He has Jimmy Bulter as his #1 option and he benches him for “rest” as he is going off and dominating the under-.500 opponent? I would not do that. I would play Jimmy until we had the lead back, then rest him, not use stopwatches to sub in and out players, regardless of the score or game tempo – if you actually watched last night’s game my comment will make a lot more sense, but you’d rather bad faith argue a topic you are clueless about, just because you know I will respond to your condescending reply guy crud to me in attempt to ragebait me. Yawn. Don’t you losers get tired of this obvious gaslighting yet?
KnickerbockerAl with the mental illness reply guy, as usual.
Hey, buddy. You are massively unwell. Get offline and go seek help.
“Note: During the 2019-20 season, with Thompson out for the year and Curry playing only five games due to a hand injury, the Warriors finished with the worst record (15-50) in the league. “
You can’t have a conversation about Warriors with FankeStein lol. So don’t even try an argument.
If you remove that season, he would still be 49-50 right?
Steve is great at managing egos, but there is no denying that Steph is a huge part of his success.
Google it even thats wrong. But why would anything about Kerr be news now. They are in the middle a huge turnaround. With season almost over. Insane would be nice. To what I really think.
What Davey J always seems to forget is that Curry wasn’t exactly a hot commodity before Steve Kerr. He got rejected by most D1 schools. Only 5 Davison graduates have made to the NBA. 3 of them started their careers with GSW. Minnesota passed on him twice at the draft. They were going to trade him at the draft. Guess who wanted him. Kerr is Curry’s 4th Head Coach. Before Kerr, they were going to trade Curry, but the Bucks rejected Steph. Yes, Curry is great. But, he needed the right HC to bring it out.
Your comment is very disingenuous, Steph was 2nd in ROY (behind Tyreke who had a better rookie season than LeBron) and he was an all star before Kerr arrived as well.
The biggest issue with Steph was never how good he was, but his injuries (aka why the Bucks didnt trade for him). Kerr had nothing to do with that.
Did Steph win any titles before Kerr arrived? Why were the Warriors willing to trade Curry? Remember Jerry West was a Warriors advisor at the time. Kerr tried to trade for Curry calling him a young Steve Nash. So, it is hard to call Kerr irrelevant.
I was not on Jimmy’s side but after hearing about the weird supplements and stuff Reilly is making the team take i just don’t know…
So all this time, Heat “Culture” meant the petri dish type of culture where they cook up the latest PEDs?
Lol good pun…it could very well be. Not sure if you’ve seen the recent quotes where Spo admits to be tested on as well as Bam. Down in Florida anything goes.
I think most Heat fans love Jimmy. He messed it up by the way he left. Heat not playing well. So they should be pumped. Warriors just need to make sure they win. Don’t get caught up in the noise.
*loved Jimmy
There’s no love left…
Yeah because the day after you take a dump in the owners corn flakes is just another day at the office…
What an ego…