In their loss to Golden State on Thursday, Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat found themselves going viral on social media — for all the wrong reasons.
At some point during the night, Jimmy Butler, Udonis Haslem, and head coach Erik Spoelstra got into a little bit of a scene on the sidelines, shouting at each other in a seemingly aggressive manner.
“what? do you want me to f**king fight you?”https://t.co/NbvmlW55KM
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) March 24, 2022
It was a pretty wild situation, but Spoelstra says it’s nothing to worry about. In a chat with the media after the final buzzer, he cleared the air and set the record straight on what went down at that moment.
“We have a very competitive, gnarly group and we were getting our asses kicked…”
Coach Spo talks about the Heat’s sideline encounter in the 3rd quarter
(via @BallyHEAT)
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 24, 2022
“Everybody was wondering where the dinner plans were tonight after the game,” said Spo. “It was pretty clear. We have a very competitive, gnarly group and we were getting our asses kicked. Two straight games, we’re not playing to the level we want to play and I would say virtually every single person in that huddle was pretty animated about our disappointment in how we were playing.”
From any other coach, on any other team, it might not pass for a reasonable excuse. In this case, though, the explanation makes sense.
The Heat are a highly competitive team, and Jimmy Butler (in particular) is known for being very passionate.
Clearly, these guys aren’t afraid to let their emotions show during a game, nor are they afraid of anyone.
“Miami wants all that smoke,” said Shaquille O’Neal. “Cut it out. Miami want that smoke. They want all that smoke. They ain’t scared of nobody. When you say they don’t want it, seems to me like you’re trying to say they’re scared.”
At 47-26 on the season, the Heat are the top seed in their Conference and have become the team to beat in the East.
Jimmy Butler has been a major part of that success as a leader and motivator for the team.
So when he’s yapping and jawing with his own guys in the middle of a game, it just goes to show how seriously he’s taking everything, and how invested he is in making sure his squad is playing at the highest possible level.
