Jimmy Butler returns to Miami on Tuesday night, as his red-hot Warriors face off against his former Heat team. To most people that would be a highly anticipated matchup, but Butler’s already shrugged off the meeting calling it “just another game.” He’s also downplaying the success he had in Miami, saying, “We didn’t win nothing like we was supposed to. We made some cool runs. We had some fun. I think that’s all we did.” That was after Butler said those Heat teams he was on were “aight.”
Regardless of Butler’s nonchalant answers to the period of time where he took the Heat to two NBA Finals appearances, he will be honored by the team when he suits up for another team Monday night with a tribute video.
The tribute video has become a customary nod of appreciation many players get in the league, regardless of the size of their contributions to their former team. But the Heat are far stingier when it comes to honoring former players. The Heat only do tribute videos for players who won a championship or were named an All-Star during their tenure, the latter of which Butler did, twice. And while he didn’t win a championship, Butler’s video will certainly contain several significant highlights from Miami’s two Finals runs in 2020 and 2023.
The tribute video will be a chance for Heat fans to either show Butler some love for his Miami tenure or voice their displeasure for this season’s contentious divorce. When asked if he’ll watch when they put it on the jumbotron, Butler gave another shrugged answer.
“Yeah, I’ll watch. If they have one,” Butler said. “If they don’t, It makes no difference. It really doesn’t.”
There’s no telling what kind of reception Butler is going to get from Heat fans. It should mostly be positive cheers, but with the way things ended, which involved multiple suspensions for conduct detrimental to the team, public jabs between Butler and Heat president Pat Riley and a trade saga that dragged out far longer than either side wanted, fans could still feel a bit annoyed by how the whole thing went down.
Even if fans did boo Butler, he’s not likely to care as he’s already said this is just another game to him. It sounds as though there may still be some unresolved feelings there, and perhaps as time passes he’ll look back on his time more affectionately. But right now, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
