This season, there is no question that Jimmy Butler has set his attentions on winning a title.
The six-foot-seven two-way threat has been through a lot. At the age of 13, he was kicked out by his mother from their house. Those early dilemmas helped Butler focus doing what he does best: hooping
Butler never stopped working on his game, which eventually led him to playing in junior college, then Marquette University before becoming the 30th pick in the 2011 draft by the Chicago Bulls. From that point, on the 30-year-old guard/forward improved his game until he became an All-Star.
In the six years that Butler played in Chicago, he was named the Most Improved Player in 2015 and was in the all-defensive second team from 2014-2016. Then he got traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
From being a young all-star in Chicago, Butler’s role had drastic change with his new team. When he arrived in Minnesota he was seen as an experienced veteran superstar leader that would help the young superstar duo of Karl Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins improve and bring back the glory days of the Timberwolves.
Unfortunately, the rough and tough mindset of Butler was too much for Towns and Wiggins. This led to a very ugly dispute which led to Butler being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Butler is cut from the same cloth as the late great Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. He wants to win at any cost, even if it means going hard on your teammates.
That mindset was a perfect fit for the City of Brotherly love. During his time in Philly, Butler said that he wanted to win a title alongside another great young duo in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
Unfortunately, Kawhi Leonard and Toronto Raptors had other things in mind and bounced Butler and the 76ers out of the playoffs in the second round of the 2019 Playoffs.
With another season passed without a title, a lot of people were questioning whether Butler could be the main piece to win a title. After a successful season with Philadelphia, a lot were expecting him to resign with them but he shocked everyone when he decided to sign a four-year $140 Million contract with the Miami Heat.
No one was looking at Miami as a contending team this season, especially as their next best player after Butler was Goran Dragic.
But the Heat surprised everyone with a strong campaign this season. Butler had a stellar performance in the regular season, averaging 19.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.8 steals. The young guns played well too.
Bam Adebayo played big this season and was named as an All-Star for the first time in his career. Rookies Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn had a strong showing as well, while Dragic, Duncan Robinson, Derrick Jones Jr and Myles Leonard all did a great job of being role players.
From being an overlooked team to being a playoff contender, Butler’s leadership and tough mentality is exactly what Miami needed to get back to the title hunt.
Butler has talked in the past about how badly he wants to win a title, and that he’s confident that it’ll be this season.
“I don’t need an MVP. I don’t care about anybody’s opinion. No trophy means anything except the Larry O’Brien. I want to be a champion, man. I mean that. I think we can do something special here,” he said in an interview.
One round into the playoffs, the Heat are certainly looking like a legitimate. In round one, they swept the Indiana Pacers, with Butler leading the way averaging 19.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.5 steals for the series.
Butler’s confidence and hunger is off the charts and it was evident in game one of the second round series against the top seeded Milwaukee Bucks. He dropped 40 points while shooting 65 percent from the field with four rebounds, two assists and two steals. He singlehandedly took over the second half to give his team a 115-104 victory.
It’s looking like Miami has the talent and the coaching to win it all. At the heart of their title bid is Butler, who’s showing that he can fit as the leading man on a contender.
The pressure’s on him, though. He’s going to need to continue to play at the same level to get to the NBA Finals.
