Mateo’s Hoops Diary: Butler’s Time in Miami Won’t be for Nothing

Miami’s window for a championship will remain open as long as Jimmy Butler can produce as he has in two of the last three Playoffs.  Even then, he will still need some herculean efforts from his teammates, but if they fall short, it won’t mean his time wearing white-hot was a failure. 

Championship rings aren’t the only thing that matter in sports.  Sometimes the memories left blowing in the wind are worth as much.  In his tenure with the club, Butler-led groups gave Heat Nation two of their most enjoyable seasons in franchise history.  That was not guaranteed after LeBron James and Dwyane Wade left.

I’m old enough to remember when Butler arrived in Miami, the Heatles had just missed the Playoffs in Wade’s farewell season.  His addition was supposed to make the team respectable again as it briefly lingered in purgatory after Flash’s transient departure in 2016.

But Butler did more than that.  And now, the conversation among Heat supporters and media following the team has shifted towards the squad’s chances of competing for a title.  Butler set the bar high.

This wasn’t supposed to be the Heat’s outlook.  In 2019 the best players on the squad were Goran Dragić, Josh Richardson, and Hassan Whiteside.  Managing to flip two of those three in a four-team deal that netted Miami Butler was as prolific a steal as the Lufthansa Heist.  It changed the Heat’s fortunes because they got a dude who impacted winning and said the right things after the games in pressers.  

Butler may miss time nursing his injuries in the regular season that arise from his bruising style of play, but he’s been as dependable as one can be in the Playoffs. After Game 2 of the 2020 Finals, Butler had played over 44 minutes in the loss, and before he left the Zoom call, I asked him if he could play all 48.  He said he could and would do “whatever it takes to win.” In Game 5, he recorded a triple-double and played all but 48 seconds of the win.  He averaged 43 minutes a night in the six-game series Miami lost to the Los Angeles Lakers for the championship.

The fine details about a team losing Game 7 at home are infrequently remembered.  Some might point to Boston’s win at Miami to claim the eastern crown as a stain against Butler’s term.  But I don’t.  He did miss a pull-up triple on the right wing that Boston’s Jayson Tatum admitted “could have sent us home,” but his legs were dead.  He had played 47 minutes and logged 35 points and nine rebounds on the stat sheet.  Butler finished the season, leaving every ounce of effort he generated on the floor.  

The Heat is a relatively new franchise at 35 years old, but they, at different points in time, have been the employers of a distinguished Hall of Famers who left their indelible mark.  James, Wade, Chris Bosh, Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Ray Allen, are as legit as it gets when it comes to elite talent being a part of an organization.  With all Butler has done in three seasons, he has elevated himself to the third most important figure in the team’s history behind Wade and James.

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