Things got messy in Miami — Jimmy Butler never hesitates to burn a bridge on his way out of town. From the moment Heat decision-maker Pat Riley said after last season that he was not going to give Jimmy Butler the max extension he wanted, we all knew what was coming. Butler eventually demanded a trade, was suspended multiple times by the team, and it was all a massive distraction from which the Heat have never recovered (Miami had lost nine straight before Sunday’s win against tanking Charlotte).
Tuesday night, Jimmy Butler returns to Miami in a Golden State Warriors uniform — and the welcome may not be very warm. It’s a big, emotional game... unless you ask Butler.
“Another game for me,” Butler said Saturday night after a win in Golden State, via the Associated Press. “Another game that we’re expected to win, for sure, though.”
Butler wasn’t done, including talking about his Miami years, via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
“We was all right. We didn’t win like we were supposed to. We made some cool runs. We had some fun...
“I was traded from there, yadda yadda yadda. Yeah, it didn’t end the way people wanted it to, yadda yadda yadda. But that’s so far behind me now, I don’t even think about it.”
It’s easy not to think about it, given that the Warriors have gone 16-3 with Butler in the lineup and look like a threat in the West.
However, picking up that 17th win may be challenging with Stephen Curry expected to miss the game with a lower back contusion (Curry has flown to Miami and joined the team for the six-game road trip they are starting but is not expected to play at the start of the trip). No Curry means the ball will be in Jimmy Butler’s hands more, giving Heat fans more chances to express their feelings. All of which makes this must-watch TV.
