Jimmy Butler has been the catalyst for the Miami Heat during one of the most unpredictable runs in NBA Playoff history, and he’s been doing it on an ankle that is at less than 100% health.
Jimmy Butler: “Nobody Cares” About Ankle Issues
Jimmy Butler has his eyes on the prize 🏆👀 pic.twitter.com/5LEcqaOeWR
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 1, 2023
The NBA Finals are set to begin tonight. The Heat have overcome incredibly long odds in order to qualify, including defeating the teams with the top-two records in the league. In the first round against the Bucks, the oddsmakers gave Miami a 1 in 13 chance of winning, and ESPN Analytics said that there was a 3% chance that they’d defeat the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
But they were able to win outright in both, and Butler and the Heat have become just the 2nd 8-seeded team to make it to the NBA Finals.
The age-old thought is that no one is at 100% health during the playoffs after a grueling 7-month regular season, but this has been especially true for the Heat. At the outset of the postseason, they lost their third-leading scorer in Tyler Herro to a season-ending injury, and there have been players in and out of the lineup throughout their run.
Bam offers Jimmy Butler the ECF trophy and he says “no” then says “I’ll hold the next one” 🔥
pic.twitter.com/70be8SEqQh— Mink Flow (@currypistonn) May 30, 2023
There has been a lingering ankle issue with their best player that may begin to hamper him the deeper Miami gets into the postseason. But according to Butler, he isn’t thinking about it and doesn’t believe that you are either:
“No, I’m not going to lie. I’m going to say nobody cares. You don’t either. I’m still expected to do my job at a high level if I take the floor, which I will. We’re going to be okay. We’re going to get the job done, bum ankle or not, and I’m not taking a follow-up, so don’t do that.”
It will be the second NBA Finals appearance for Jimmy Butler after he led the Heat to the 2020 Championship series before coming up short to the Lakers. He has his eyes focused on the prize, as he refused a chance to hold the Eastern Conference Finals trophy, instead saying, “I’ll hold the next one.”
The Heat are heavy underdogs in both the first game and the series overall. As it stands on the morning of Game 1, Miami is listed at +325 for the series, and -9 for tonight’s contest in Denver.
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