Butler moves past Finals loss, eager to compete again
Jimmy Butler is not interested in reliving the past.
“Not a lot, man, to tell you the truth,” Butler said Monday during a Zoom call with reporters when asked how much he has reflected on last season’s NBA Finals that the Heat lost in six games to the
Los Angeles Lakers. “We play this game to win. We didn’t do that, and that’s all that matters.”
The Heat’s All-Star wing also doesn’t want to get into how he feels physically after an abbreviated offseason has him in training camp just eight weeks after averaging 43 minutes of playing time in a championship series that ended Oct. 11. Butler, 31, participated in his first practice of the preseason Monday after missing Sunday’s session because of an excused absence.
“Nobody really cares,” Butler said when asked how his body feels, with the Heat’s preseason opener scheduled for Dec. 14 against the New Orleans Pelicans at AmericanAirlines Arena. “But I got a job to do, so that’s what I got to be ready to do. I’ve got to be ready to compete when these games start. Nicked up or not, I think a lot of people are going to be that. Still go out there and compete, still go out there and win.”
Instead, Butler spent his first media session in almost two months — since last season ended in October — working to set the tone for the Heat’s upcoming season.
“Approach it like a normal season,” Butler said of how he plans to handle this season’s unique schedule amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “I know that the training staff here, coach [Erik Spoelstra], they’ll figure out that other stuff. I just got to go out there and compete. Communicate when your body is not where it needs to be at. But all in all, we’re here to win. Everybody is going to be at the same disadvantage. So you can’t say that we got to do this, but the next team doesn’t. Because we all got to do it. So it’s all about figuring out how to win, how to maintain and how to be healthy at the end of this thing.”
Lack of continuity shouldn’t be an excuse for Miami either, with 12 of the 15 players from its 2019-20 roster returning this season. The three
who will not return are
Jae Crowder (signed with the Phoenix Suns), Solomon Hill (signed with the Atlanta Hawks) and Derrick Jones Jr. (signed with the Portland Trail Blazers).
The Heat responded to those departures by adding veteran guard Avery Bradley and veteran forward Moe Harkless in free agency. Miami also used its first-round pick in this year’s draft to add an athletic big man to its roster, selecting Precious Achiuwa at No. 20.
“I love and respect anybody that’s been in the trenches with me, to help me win games, to go to war, to put their body out there on the line for me,” Butler said. “But I’m so happy for those guys, because I think each one of them, they’ve taken another step in their career. That’s just part of the game. That’s part of basketball. That’s part of life.
“And as for these guys that we have here now, they’re coming in here and they’re working. I respect that. We respect that. That’s how we do things here. And they realize that everything we do, that they do now, is to win, to win here. But I like it. Don’t get me wrong, I really loved playing with those guys that aren’t here anymore. But I think I’m going to enjoy playing with these new guys, as well. We all realize that we have a job to do.”
To begin training camp and the preseason, Butler said, “everybody is trying to get in the best basketball shape that they can be in because there’s nothing like basketball shape. ... Trying to make sure that we’re still in it mentally, which we are. And we’ll see as this team
moves forward. But as for right now, I think we’re in a good spot.”
As for creating motivation from some calling last season’s Heat playoff success “a fluke” because of the unique circumstances that came with playing in a quarantine bubble, Butler said: “We don’t really pay attention to the outside. They’re not in here. They don’t got Miami across their chest on their practice jersey or across their chest whenever we’re competing in these games. Me of all people, I couldn’t care less about what the outside thinks. I think we got a lot of people in this organization and on this team that they don’t give a damn either.”
In Butler’s first season with the Heat, he averaged team highs in points (19.9), assists (6) and steals (1.8) in 58 regularseason games on his way to making the All-NBA Third Team. He elevated his game in the playoffs, averaging 22.2 points on 48.8 percent shooting, 6.5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in 21 games (21 starts).
Despite the Heat losing to the Lakers in the Finals, it was still a historically special series for Butler.
With triple-doubles in Games 3 and 5 (the Heat’s two wins in the six-game series), Butler became just the sixth player in NBA history to generate multiple triple-double in a single Finals series. Also on that list: Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Draymond Green, Magic Johnson and LeBron James.
Butler averaged 26.2 points while shooting 55.2 percent from the field, 8.3 rebounds and 9.8 assists in 43 minutes in the Finals.
“Those were iconic moments. Not just for our organization, but in this league,” Spoelstra said Monday. “To be able to do what he did and inspire an entire an organization and team. As it’s happening, you’re in the middle of it, but you’re still able to step back and acknowledge that this is really uncommon. I think this is what he has always wanted as a competitor, to be able to be pushed to the limits, to help push our team to its limits. The ultimate competition, if you’re a competitor like that, will bring out something that you possibly didn’t even know that you’re capable of doing. I think that’s what we saw.”
But Butler said he has not rewatched a minute of that Finals series during the past eight weeks, and noted that he would only watch the four Heat losses if he did.
“I’m hoping that we all learn that we belong,” Butler said of the upcoming season. “That we’re one of the best teams in this league and we can do what we know we can do, which is win a championship. ... I know that we’re capable of it. I know that we believe we can do it. So I’m just hoping that we learn that we can hang with the best of them all year long.”
Wing BJ Johnson, who just signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Heat on Friday, was the only player who could not participate in Monday’s practice because he’s still working to complete initial testing protocols before he’s cleared to join the team on the court.