By Stefan Djordjevic/ info@eurohoops.net
Jimmy Butler has gained a reputation for not putting up with anything on and off the court, and he showed that in the bubble as well when he stood up for his teammate Duncan Robinson against Oklahoma and Chris Paul.
“I just don’t like you picking on my young fellas like that. I feel like you didn’t have to do that. That was like an eye for an eye,” Butler told Rachel Nichols on The Jump and added. “I don’t care. I don’t need friends here in the bubble. I barely leave my room. I’m in my room minding my business. I’m not going to see nobody. I think it’s tough having to play somebody that you’re going to have to walk by on the way to testing or to a meeting or to a practice or something like that.”
And with the playoffs coming, Butler expects to see much more of that soon, although not anything that would cross the line: “You’re going to get a mean mug here and there, maybe a couple of words, definitely from some players that’ll still be in the playoffs. I don’t know, maybe there’s some part of it that the world doesn’t get to see. But it’s for sure going to happen.”
One of those might come from his ‘rivalry’ with the Indiana Pacers’ TJ Warren who the Heat will face in the first round. The two already went back and forth earlier in the season.
“A high level of competition. I’ll keep it at that for now and keep it at basketball. I know that I have a job to do just like he has a job to do. But I know that the group of guys that we have, we’re going to make sure that our job gets done.”
Miami’s star player also expressed his belief in the squad which aims to go all the way but he also believes that there’s a good chance they bring over another high-profile player in the offseason.
“I think it’ll happen. Only time will tell. I’m telling you, the organization is really good at getting what they want to win a championship. It’s gonna happen. We have all the key pieces. We have shooters. We got the youth. We got the vets. And I think, a little Miami sunshine never hurt anybody.”