Golden State Warriors star Jimmy Butler will be making his return to Miami on Tuesday for the first time since he was traded on Feb. 5. Despite a messy exit, the Heat will pay Butler tributes with a video–a tradition they have followed for All-Stars and players who won a title with the team.
The six-time All-Star spoke about receiving one before it was officially announced on Monday.
“Would I watch? Yeah I’d watch,” he said. “If they have one, if they don’t, makes no difference.”
Butler also spoke to reporters Monday about always being painted as “the bad guy,” as well as his three team-sanctioned suspensions in January.
“I’m always painted as the bad guy. Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve always been the problem,” he said. “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.
“I think the suspensions are more because they just didn’t want me to be around the team,” he added, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “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.”
While Butler’s raw numbers in Golden State have been similar to how it was in Miami, the six-time All-Star has seen far more success. The Warriors are 16-3 in the games he has played, while the Heat endured a 10-game losing streak that was snapped Sunday evening against the lowly Charlotte Hornets.
He’s been more impactful on both ends alongside Stephen Curry than he was at any point in 25 games with the Heat this season. In 19 games, he’s averaging 17.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 6.5 assists on 43.8 percent shooting and 84.8 percent from the charity stripe.
Tuesday’s game between Golden State and Miami should have plenty of emotion, even though both teams are on the polar opposite spectrums. The Heat is still trying to find ways to bridge this new build around Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo and Andrew Wiggins, who posted a season-high 42 points on 16-of-21 shooting Sunday; the Warriors are trying to secure a top-6 seed in the West and hoping to compete for a title, even though those expectations are beyond lofty.
What are you hoping to see Tuesday? Let us know in the comments!
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Jimmy who?
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