- Jimmy Butler praises tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, who says he gets nervous playing in front of celebrities like Heat star
- Erik Spoelstra’s level-headed comments after Miami Heat get walloped by Brooklyn Nets
- Tyler Herro indicates Miami Heat are looking to finish 6th seed or higher
- Gilbert Arenas admits he couldn’t ‘beat [Dwyane] Wade for s–t’
- Tristan Thompson says Miami Heat LeBron James was ‘scariest’ version, Mario Chalmers on some ‘sucka s–t’
- Jimmy Butler admits he doesn’t start ‘playing for real’ until after the All-Star break
- Jimmy Butler on Dwyane Wade: ‘I always want to make him proud’
- Erik Spoelstra ‘open to anything’ amid Miami Heat’s ever-changing center rotation
- Stan Van Gundy says Dwyane Wade is the best last-shot player he’s ever seen
- NBA executive believes Max Strus ‘most likely’ will leave Miami Heat in free agency
Jimmy Butler is still emotional after ECF loss: ‘I’m not ready to talk about basketball yet’
- Updated: June 20, 2022
Though the Golden State Warriors have officially been crowned the 2022 NBA champions, Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler is still not yet ready to discuss his team’s defeat in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Heat battled with the Boston Celtics in a highly competitive seven-game series, but they could not get a win in the final game.
In a recent interview with Front Office Sports, Butler admitted that he is not yet ready to talk about basketball again.
“Man, honestly, I’m not ready to talk about basketball yet,” he said. “I’m still in my feelings, so I don’t really get into it. I can’t. You’re opening up a door of emotions. I just want to talk about coffee and ice cream, my brother.”
Butler’s response is understandable and fair. Often, NBA players like to enjoy the first portion of the offseason by relaxing and letting their bodies heal after a long and grueling NBA season. Part of that rest surely includes taking a break from thinking about basketball and the previous season.
That is surely hard for a player as competitive and passionate as Butler. In the series against the Celtics, Butler made sure to leave it all on the floor. In the seven-game series, he averaged 25.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He was a dominant force and was a major reason why the Heat managed to stretch the series to seven games.
Despite Butler’s heroics, the Heat could not get it done in the series. Now, Butler and the rest of the Heat roster will surely look to spend a large portion of the summer improving as individual players and as a unit in order to better Miami’s chances of advancing to the NBA Finals next season.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login