MIAMI (AP) — Some fans cheered his introduction. Many jeered him. And whenever he got the ball over the next four quarters, there was plenty of booing from all…
Some fans cheered his introduction. Many jeered him. And whenever he got the ball over the next four quarters, there was plenty of booing from all sides of the arena.
In the end, Jimmy Butler’s return to Miami couldn’t have gone better for the Heat.
The Heat paid tribute to Butler’s 5½ seasons with the team with a pregame video on Tuesday night, shown in the arena as part of the introduction of the Golden State Warriors’ starting lineup for the game. Those were about the only highlights for the Warriors, with Butler scoring 11 points in a 112-86 loss.
“I got a lot of love for this city, for the fanbase here,” Butler said afterward. “The video was nice. I won’t say there was a lot of emotions, though.”
Butler appeared to watch the roughly 40-second pregame video, as he said he would, though added that it didn’t matter to him whether the Heat did one or not. He got the full-throated introduction from Heat public-address announcer Michael Baiamonte — “Jim … my … Butlerrrrr” — just as he did when he played for Miami and waved to acknowledge the sounds from the stands.
It was unusual, though. And it did take Butler a couple extra seconds to figure out where to go when he arrived at the arena.
“I was confused,” Butler said. “Haven’t been on this side in a minute.”
He’s insisting that there’s no hard feelings between he and the Heat now, a month and a half after he was traded to the Warriors following a contentious breakup that saw him suspended by Miami three times in his final weeks with the team.
The video included a slew of Butler’s highlights from the Heat era, including the iconic image of him, exhausted, slumped over a courtside barrier during a game in the NBA bubble in 2020.
