Coming off their worst 10-game slide in nearly two decades, the Miami Heat are riding their first four-game win streak since mid-December.
Their second–and most notable–win of their newfound surge was against Jimmy Butler and the Golden State Warriors, which was Butler’s first game against his old team since getting traded in early February.
There was plenty of toxic behind-the-scenes drama that developed in the months leading up, so there was plenty of emotion for both teams heading into the game–despite being on two opposite ends of the spectrum. However, the Heat embarrassed Butler, who scored just 11 points in 29 minutes, in his return, beating the Warriors by 26 points.
Butler, who was showered with boos (with some cheers) by the Heat faithful for most of the evening, did not acknowledge any of his teammates after the blowout loss. Heat captain and former running mate Bam Adebayo was not surprised by his actions.
“I’m not shocked. It is what it is,” Adebayo said last week, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “It’s a business at the end of the day. And he has a Golden State Warriors jersey on. We have a Heat jersey on. I don’t take it personal. We’re out there to do our job anyways. So if you don’t want to speak, we don’t speak, and that’s fine. We’re going to get out here, we’re going to compete, win or lose the game, and we move on.”
Adebayo did a good job taking the high road publicly–even though it was to be expected. In the end, it is what it is. Nobody can change what happened in the past; all of us can only control what we can control.
Jimmy Butler did not have many allies inside the Heat building upon his departure. We can argue who was at fault all day (it was both sides), but Butler ultimately quit on his team and subtly threw his coach under the bus for actions he was able to control. You’re not going to have many allies after that, point blank.
The Warriors are 18-4 in games that the six-time All-Star has played. In 22 games, he is averaging 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.4 steals on 44.5 percent shooting and 57.7 percent true shooting. The Heat has struggled mightily despite this four-game win streak, dipping to as much as 12 games below .500.
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Butler quit on his teammates because of issues he had with Riley and Spo. The players did nothing to him. It’s like getting a messy divorce because you don’t get along with your spouse and want to pursue greener pastures, then turning your back on the kids. What an @$$hole.
Golden State is two games behind 4th place Lakers, a game behind 5th place Memphis, a half-game ahead of 7th place Minnesota and a game ahead of 8th place Clippers. Sure do hope Warriors stumble and fall and wind up in play-ins and lose there. Miami would then be in line for lottery pick (#13 – #14). If Miami does not make the playoffs, they could conceivably have two lottery picks (two shots at Flagg or other to players!
Perfectly said! Nobody would blame him for wanting to get paid one last time in his career. Nobody would blame him for wanting out of Miami because the front office failed to bring another star (or at least some decent players that would give us a shot at the championship).
But he did show his true colors in the end. He doesn’t give a damn about his (now ex) teammates and I am sure he never did. Once he was on his way out, he didn’t need to pretend any interest or care for his teammates. They suddenly ceased to exist in his world. Why would he acknowledge them now? They’re nothing for him. This shows you what kind of person he is. Good player yes. But that’s it.
But I believe we should move on and stop acknowledging him. He is gone, no need to deal with the past anymore.
Nobody is surprised.