Jimmy Butler will be an All-Star when the game tips off in Chicago Feb. 16.
He just will be coming off the bench (to be voted on by the coaches), not starting, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says that’s “a joke.”
Spoelstra’s point is a good one: Is Butler a guard or a forward? Butler could only be voted on as a forward, but the Heat coach he sees Butler as the teams starting two guard, and in today’s positionless NBA should we define players this way at all? Here is what Spoelstra said, via Nick Friedell of ESPN:“I just think it’s ridiculous that we’re still in these antiquated positions,” Spoelstra said... “So who’s to say what position Jimmy is? Does it matter? I put him No. 2 on my [lineup] card. So I go Kendrick Nunn, Jimmy Butler, Duncan Robinson, I go Bam [Adebayo] and then Meyers [Leonard]. But you could flip any one of those guys around. And in many ways he’s our point guard. So should he be in the All-Star Game as a point guard? I don’t know.
“These are such antiquated labels that I feel like we’ve moved on from that years ago when we started talking about positionless [players]. But either way, regardless of how you want to label it or discuss it, Jimmy Butler should be a starter in this All-Star Game. It’s a joke that he’s not. Hopefully this will change things in the future.”
Butler was listed on the All-Star ballot a forward and could not be voted on as a guard. According to Cleaning the Glass’ breakdown, Butler has spent 44 percent of his minutes this season as a shooting guard, 42 percent at small forward, and 14 percent as power forward.
We probably should define Butler as a “wing” player, but that doesn’t fit neatly into the NBA’s voting categories. Butler isn’t even the most obvious category-busting player out there: Is 6'8" Luka Doncic a point guard? What about Ben Simmons? They are both categorized as guards by the league, however LeBron James — the league leader in assists and the Lakers’ point guard in terms of running the offense — is a forward.
Would Butler have been a starter if he could have been voted on as a guard? We will never know.
I want the league to do away with positions, both on the All-Star ballot and the All-NBA ballot (where voters must choose two guards, two forwards, and a center). It’s also unlikely the league breaks away from that tradition, at least any time soon.
Which leaves Butler on the bench. Coaches vote for the reserves, they will undoubtedly pick Butler, and those results will be announced next Thursday. Butler unquestionably is playing at an All-Star level. In his first season in Miami he is averaging 20.3 points, 7 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game. He has been the best player and the offensive focal point of a 31-14 Miami team.
Butler is not a starter primarily because of his peers, his fellow players. The fans voted Butler fourth among East frontcourt players. The media voted him third. [For transparency, I am one of the media pannel voters and I had Butler as a starter ahead of Pascal Siakam.]
The players had Butler sixth among forwards, behind Jayson Tatum and Butler’s Miami teammate Bam Adebayo. This vote is still a popularity contest, and Butler has burned a few bridges behind him.
That doesn’t mean Spoelstra is wrong and it’s a joke Butler is not a starter.
