There’s no denying what Jimmy Butler has accomplished this postseason has been spectacular. With averages of 28.5 points, seven rebounds, almost six assists, and two steals a game, Butler has been the catalyst behind the eight-seed play-in Miami Heat’s run to the 2023 NBA Finals.
But is it the best-ever individual play by one player taking his team to the NBA’s championship series? ESPN’s Jay Williams seems to think so, based on a recent endorsement of Butler. The analyst claimed he’s never seen someone like Butler play so well to take a team like these specific Heat to the brink of a title.
And, at face value, such an opinion doesn’t seem all that ludicrous.
“I’ve never seen a man carry a team like this to an NBA Finals”
– @RealJayWilliams on Jimmy Butler
(Via ESPN) pic.twitter.com/mN4nx5dta0
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) June 1, 2023
What might get lost in the shuffle is that Miami still has excellent pieces, despite its status as the Eastern Conference’s lowest seed.
Bam Adebayo might be one of the NBA’s better big-man defenders. Caleb Martin lost the East Finals MVP to Butler by one whole vote. And Erik Spoelstra, the man pulling all the strings for a well-disciplined squad that almost always plays all 48 minutes, is arguably the league’s best coach by a mile.
That said, the Heat seemingly had every obstacle placed in front of them this postseason. They barely survived a play-in game against the Chicago Bulls. Then, over the course of two months, they took out three East heavyweights in the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks, No. 5 seed New York Knicks, and No. 2 seed Boston Celtics. After an inconsistent year where they proved more unreliable than anything, no one saw this meteoric run coming.
A lot of that is squarely on Butler’s shoulders, even if his team is better on paper than a typical No. 8 seed.
NBA fans took to Williams’ “never seen” praise of Playoff Butler, wondering where his spring stood in context, if the success is more about the other Heat players, and how it compares to other great heroic runs to the Finals.
This isn’t even the first time Jimmy Butler has carried the Heat to the finals 😂😂. Not to mention Kawhi, Dirk, etc https://t.co/rMfL4mQMt7
— SCOUTWITHBRYAN (@ScoutWithBryan) June 1, 2023
i just don’t agree. https://t.co/6aTadChLhE pic.twitter.com/gPCqEwWBoI
— Matt Hartman❌ (@mhartNFL) June 1, 2023
These guys would like a word https://t.co/OqAEaV9hDf pic.twitter.com/lkpLMcKkAn
— Tom Ignudo (@TomIgnudo) June 1, 2023
I guess this year never happened https://t.co/c7rTpcc3Dt pic.twitter.com/9zXhpEyvyl
— Owen Ferris (@OwenFerris9) June 1, 2023
Oh, so we just gonna forget about @KingJames during his first tenure with the @cavs? https://t.co/u9FdUyJuCH
— Dane Franklin (@Dane_Franklin) June 1, 2023
Statements like this are a discredit to Erik Spoelstra. https://t.co/NNf1MLVC3f
— Joy De’Angela (@joydeangela) June 1, 2023
Allen Iverson would like a word https://t.co/vGnaRAHIhv pic.twitter.com/zCwvVqwC3k
— Joe Pop (@JoePops_) June 1, 2023
2015 and 2018 LeBron James beg to differ. https://t.co/Ona8Lpsrgp
— Khari Thompson (@kdthompson5) June 1, 2023
the disrespect to LeBron & Caleb Martin is nuts https://t.co/DI8k7ecggY
— Cam Wilder (@camwilderr) June 1, 2023
