Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler stunned his agent Bernie Lee just a few minutes into their first meeting with the Heat back in 2019.
Lee recently explained the story.
“I always tell him, he has the worst poker face in the world, which is both positive and negative,” Lee said. “But I think back to that first meeting with the Heat, we were like eight minutes into our meeting with them and I had my head turned. I think I was talking to Andy [Elisburg] or [Erik Spoelstra], and he was talking to Pat [Riley] and Pat said something about identifying pieces for the Heat. Then the words come out of Jimmy’s mouth, ‘No, it’s OK. I’m in. I’m coming.’
“I turned and I looked at him. We hadn’t talked about a contract, we hadn’t talked about numbers or anything. I’m kind of looking at Jimmy like, ‘You just agreed to a deal that hasn’t even necessarily been offered to us yet. So thank you for that.’”
Butler must have been sold on Miami if he was willing to make a decision that quickly. The move has paid off for all involved parties, and Butler is still a key piece of the Heat organization today.
To this point, the 31-year-old has spent two seasons with Miami. So far, he is averaging 20.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game with the team.
His individual production has been fantastic, and it has led to sustained success for the Heat on the whole. The team reached the NBA Finals in the 2019-20 season, and Butler had a major hand in that run. In the 2020-21 season, things didn’t go as smoothly, but the 2021-22 campaign figures to be different.
Miami has added some legitimate stars to fill in its roster this offseason, and those moves could carry the team to a deep playoff in the upcoming campaign. Butler would surely like to accomplish the ultimate goal of winning a title with the Heat.
