Jimmy Butler continues to prove he belongs on NBA’s biggest stage

Jimmy Butler was selected at No. 30 in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. After a quiet rookie season, Butler transformed himself into one of the best two-way players in the league over the next several seasons.

While Butler became a household name in the Windy City, the Bulls traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2017. He helped lead Minnesota to its first postseason appearance in 13 seasons. Butler also spent one season with the Philadelphia Sixers. Unfortunately, they were eliminated in the second round of the 2019 playoffs.

But for all of the individual success on his resume, Butler had never played beyond the conference semifinals round of the postseason. When Jimmy Butler joined the Miami Heat last offseason, he felt the team had what it took to compete for an NBA title. Of course, he was in the minority with that sentiment.

Butler and the Heat finished with the fifth-best record in the Eastern Conference during the regular season. But that didn’t mean they were destined for a deep postseason run. Miami knocked off the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers in four games. If you thought the team’s performance in the opening round was an aberration, you would be wrong.

In the second round, Butler and the Heat defeated the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in five games. No easy feat, considering the Bucks finished with the league’s best record in each of the last two seasons. And they were the favorites to represent the East in the Finals.

Next up, Butler and the Heat squared off against the other team expected to come out of the East. That team was the Boston Celtics. In a matchup of evenly matched teams, the Heat won that series in six games. As a result, they returned to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014. Meanwhile, this would be the first time Butler would be in a position to play for the Larry O’Brien trophy.

While the bright lights may be too big for some players who’ve never been here before, that hasn’t been the case with Butler. In the first two games of the 2020 NBA Finals, Butler scored 23 and 25 points, respectively. He also shot 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to prevent the Los Angeles Lakers from winning Games 1 and 2.

While Butler contributed in the first two outings, he put together one of the best performances of his career in Game 3. In that contest, he finished with a triple-double that included 40 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists.

Additionally, Butler shot an uber efficient 70 percent from the field (14-for-20) without attempting a single 3-point shot. The last player to accomplish this feat was Shaquille O’Neal in 2002.

In the closing moments of the game, Butler reportedly told LeBron James that he was in trouble. Yes, the Lakers still hold a 2-1 lead in the series. However, Butler is proving that he and the Heat belong on this stage and that they aren’t going away without a fight.

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