Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler and new Dallas Mavericks forward Grant Williams had a bit of a heated moment during Game 2 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals.
With the Heat trailing by nine, Butler scored a bucket inside the paint on Williams and immediately got in his face. The former Boston Celtic didn’t shy away from the confrontation, and the two literally butted heads in the fourth quarter.
Now, it has come to light exactly what Williams said during the skirmish.
“That’s a funny thing that happened,” said Williams. “We were playing that game. I think we we’re up by eight. I’m playing well. Jimmy says, ‘Hell nah, he aint here.’ So I made a 3. I said, ‘Hell nah mothaf—-, I’m here.’ … The next play, Jimmy, hesi, boom boom, stop, spin a bit, and one. And he says, ‘I’m here too mothaf—-.’ And so I’m like, ‘I dont give a f—.'”
Butler and the Heat eventually came away with the last laugh as they came back to win that game 111-105. The Heat superstar had 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while the former University of Tennessee product had just nine points and two rebounds on the night.
The Heat would go on to win the series in seven games after nearly blowing a 3-0 series lead for the first time in NBA history.
Miami became something of a Cinderella story during the 2023 NBA Playoffs, as it nearly got knocked out of the play-in tournament after losing to the Atlanta Hawks. However, it redeemed itself with a do-or-die game against the Chicago Bulls.
It made it all the way to the NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets, but superstar center Nikola Jokic and the team’s plethora of elite role players proved too much to handle.
The Heat could improve their team drastically if they somehow land Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, who has been rumored to be heavily interested in landing in South Beach. That’s because they ranked dead last in points per game during the regular season, and especially struggled during the playoffs when their third-leading scorer in Tyler Herro went down with a broken hand.
Lillard’s 32.2 per-game average would surely do wonders for a Heat offense that grew stagnant at inopportune times both in the regular season and playoffs.