Early on in the Miami Heat’s game against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel made a post on X in which he pointed out that reserve big man Thomas Bryant had put points on the board while two of Miami’s better players — Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo — were still scoreless.
Thomas Bryant has scored for the Heat . . . and Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo still have not.
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) October 26, 2024
Bernie Lee — who is Butler’s agent — responded to Winderman’s social media post a couple hours later. Butler, who didn’t have any points in the first quarter, ultimately shook off his slow scoring start to drop 26 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor and 1-of-3 shooting from deep. He was also busy at the charity stripe.
My internet went out after the 1st quarter (forgot to pay my bill). He end up scoring at all? https://t.co/h7BRTocqXr
— Bernard Lee (@BernieoLee) October 27, 2024
Winderman responded in a clever way.
Yes, Bam did score 12 points. https://t.co/ponPdmprdR
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) October 27, 2024
Lee responded and implied that Winderman is soon going to touch on the fact that Butler hasn’t shot the ball with great accuracy from the free-throw line through two games this season. On 9.5 shots per game from the line, only 63.2 percent of Butler’s attempts have fallen through the bottom of the net. Butler is a career 84.3 percent free-throw shooter.
Well played. I can’t wait for the mailbag question abt his decline in FT percentage. https://t.co/iE7a365CMC
— Bernard Lee (@BernieoLee) October 27, 2024
The Heat picked up their first win of the season, defeating the Hornets by a final score of 114-106. Butler also redeemed himself after a quiet performance in Miami’s season opener against the Orlando Magic on Oct. 23. The former Marquette University star mustered just three points all game in the opener and missed seven of his eight shots from the floor.
Butler and the Heat will have a prime opportunity to win their second game in a row when they face off against Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons on Monday. The Pistons own the worst record of any team in the Eastern Conference right now at 0-3.
Considering how Miami has struggled to stay out of the play-in over the past couple of seasons, one of the Heat’s top goals for the 2024-25 campaign should be to get off to a blazing start. A win on Monday would put the Heat at 2-1 on the season and on the right track to accomplishing that goal.
