At All-Star Weekend, Jimmy Butler reflects on first season with Heat and how he fits in
As Jimmy Butler sat at a podium during All-Star media availability Saturday morning, a group of reporters wanted to know what he has brought to the Heat in his first season with the organization.
“Not [expletive],” Butler said matter-of-factly. “I think that culture was already there. I think I just brought myself. Their culture is going to stay the same with or without me.”
But Butler, 30, has helped the Heat a lot more than he’ll admit. He has added a competitive edge and an All-Star talent to Miami’s roster, lifting the Heat from a lottery team to a playoff team in just one year.
With Bam Adebayo preparing to make his first All-Star appearance — joining Butler on Team Giannis for Sunday’s All-Star Game at the United Center — Adebayo reflected on the impact Butler has had in his first season with the Heat. Miami acquired Butler this past offseason through a sign-and-trade deal with the 76ers.
“Building habits and Jimmy is one of those guys that he wants to hold people to a higher standard and our organization wants to hold people to a higher standard,” said Adebayo, who sat just two seats away from Butler during All-Star media availability. “So it just made it all sync together. Nobody is taking anything personal when somebody gets on them. It’s all love at the end of the day.”
Butler is averaging 20.6 points on 45.7 percent shooting from the field, 6.8 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.8 steals this season. He owns a team-best plus/minus of plus-214.
That individual success has helped push the Heat to a 35-19 record at the All-Star break, which is just four away from its win total (39-43) for all of last season. Still, Butler sees room for improvement, especially on the road where Miami has posted a 13-16 record.
“To win some games,” Butler said of the Heat’s post-break mission. “To figure out how to win on the road. I think we’re still coming into who we are. We got to figure it out really soon. We’re capable of it. Coach [Erik Spoelstra] and [Heat president] Pat [Riley] know what we have to do.
“I think we still got a little bit of work to do, but I think we’ll be OK. We got some new pieces in the mix. Everybody is getting used to everybody still. In the second half of the season, we got some business to handle.”
As for what Butler has learned about Riley, he said that “more than anything, everything I heard about Pat is legit for real.”
“He’s straight to the point, direct, involved in everything — I love it,” Riley said. “That just shows that he cares and he wants to win. He wants to win now. None of this is guaranteed. He realizes it. Everybody in Miami realizes it to try to make it happen.”
That push will start on Thursday when the Heat resumes its schedule with a matchup against the Hawks in Atlanta.
Butler will spend this weekend in Chicago, a place where he spent the first six seasons of his NBA career playing for the Bulls. A place that Butler still considers one of his homes and doesn’t rule out returning to at some point later in his career.
“This is Chicago,” Butler said. “This is home for me for a long time and it still is home for me. It’s a definite possibility, maybe towards the end of my career but who knows? I guess we’ll find out when the time gets here.”
TIDBITS FROM ALL-STAR MEDIA DAY
▪ Of competing in the Slam Dunk Contest on his 23rd birthday Saturday, forward Derrick Jones Jr. said: “It’s a great opportunity for me. It’s a great opportunity for me to have a great birthday present, just bringing home that trophy with me down to Miami on my birthday. There would be no better present than that.”
▪ The Heat has had plenty of past success in the Three-Point Contest. Four different Heat players have won the competition — Glen Rice in 1995, Jason Kapono in 2007, Daequan Cook in 2009 and James Jones in 2011.
Duncan Robinson will try to become the fifth Heat player to win the contest on Saturday night.
“The organization has had some big-time shooters and have had success in the three-point competition specifically,” Robinson said. “That’s one of the first things that was mentioned to me when I got the invite, ‘We’ve had a long line of success in this and we want you to be next.’ Just trying to carry that torch.”
▪ When asked who is the league’s biggest All-Star snub, Adebayo pointed to Wizards guard Bradley Beal, who is averaging 29.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists this season. There was plenty of buzz surrounding the Heat’s interest in Beal this past offseason before Beal signed an extension with the Wizards in October.
“I feel like Bradley Beal is having an incredible year,” Adebayo said. “I feel like he should have been one of those guys off the strength of the players, I feel like he should have been in. But I feel like it’s because of his record. But his performance is incredible. I think he’s an All-Star no matter if he didn’t make it or he did.”
