After the altercation between Nikola Jokic and Marcus Morris ended, TV cameras caught Jimmy Butler yelling at somebody. Initially, fans and media members thought he was barking at Jokic while the Serbian center sat on the bench.
Plenty of fans criticized Butler for waiting that long to go after Jokic. He was next to the player when the benches cleared and didn’t do anything, which didn’t sit well with fans.
Two days after the incident, a report says Butler wasn’t yelling at Jokic, but an assistant coach of Michael Malone. The Nuggets’ coaching staff allegedly tried to stir the pot with Heat players, which led to Butler’s outburst.
According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, Jimmy B was mad at Stephen Graham.
“If nothing else, there’s this small solace for the Joker when it comes to all this acrimony: While it certainly looked as if the Heat’s Jimmy Butler was also coming for him during the chaos, when he could be seen yelling ‘Bring your ass to the back!’” and the Twitter folks deduced that he was challenging Nikola to a good, old-fashioned brawl, a source with knowledge of the situation said Butler was actually furious with Nuggets player development coach and former NBA player Stephen Graham.”
NBA fans didn’t believe this story and started calling out Butler for being ‘fake tough,’ even saying he was scared of Nikola Jokic’s brothers.
No one scared of the Jokic bros. Just get the security guy who held them back with the power of his raised hand last year during the Nuggets/Suns playoff game.
— Sketchy (@Sketchy72) November 10, 2021
he didn’t want any smoke LMAOOO pic.twitter.com/MyOxujn4ls
— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) November 10, 2021
WHO!?!? None of them played for heat pic.twitter.com/D9UI1dhoeN
— Walter Johnson (@forevajohnson) November 10, 2021
We know it wasn't Nene! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/30IYKbSSNd
— Dem Boyz Fan (@cobey3) November 10, 2021
If u actually watch the footage again jokic is sitting on the bench looking straight and jimmy is yelling at someone else
— 𝓝𝓲𝓬𝓴 (@SSJ_Nick3) November 10, 2021
https://twitter.com/yrgspacecadet/status/1458452761771581447
“We have been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty.” pic.twitter.com/61ZHecIAMT
— Nikkocaine (@nikkofficial2) November 10, 2021
Heat fans knew this. People just used the narrative of jokic to create this “fake tough guy” narrative because they hate him.
— Tjay (@TJames312) November 10, 2021
nah he saying that now cuz of the jokic brothers
— ʙᴀᴛᴍᴀɴ (@Hxnted_) November 10, 2021
https://twitter.com/titanlmao/status/1458453649189916679
Lmaoooooo nah man no way Jimmy going out like this 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣#NoSmoke
— 🏆LakersGuru🏆 (@GuruLakers) November 10, 2021
Jimmy Butler is fake tough , 1vs1 in a fight Jokic slams him😹
— 💰💚 (@TheOriginalDubb) November 10, 2021
https://twitter.com/JayAH985/status/1458490536680062979
Nah, Butler saw the Brothers are about that life and is now back pedaling. It’s too late they got tickets 😂😂😂
— 𝐊𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐦𝐢 (@papyfaye1) November 10, 2021
That’s what I’ve been saying the whole time but “nah he’s a fake tough guy”
— 𝓝𝓲𝓬𝓴 (@SSJ_Nick3) November 10, 2021
Bro is scared now and made this up😭
— . (@jasonfein0) November 10, 2021
https://twitter.com/celticjdavis/status/1458452711310041088
Ater he calmed down he remembered about his brothers😭😭
— 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘶̄𝘨𝘰̃ (@GianniBurnerr) November 10, 2021
So this wasn't about The Joker? Yeah right. pic.twitter.com/gfIczcxfyN
— Ray Moose (@Lasix40mgIV) November 10, 2021
Jimmy Butler: pic.twitter.com/t7nV7YqrrM
— OG Anunoby Addict (@PlayoffBoundNYK) November 10, 2021
https://twitter.com/LightYearsSZN/status/1458452852146196488https://twitter.com/dallasamiker24/status/1458452851819089926
This story and its backlash are making a lot of noise around the league. Fans really don’t like this version of the event and prefer to attack Jimmy for acting tough when he was away from Jokic only to change his version and say he was yelling at somebody else.
The Nuggets will visit the Heat on November 29, with the Jokic brothers in attendance. It’ll be interesting to see what will happen once the Nuggets land in Miami to play a game that will get a lot of attention.
