Jimmy Butler has built up a reputation for being notoriously intense during practices, and Nikola Jovic witnessed it firsthand during their time together as teammates on the Miami Heat. During an appearance on the 6.75range podcast, Jovic was asked whether Butler really is such a fierce competitor in practice and shared how he once dominated against him, Bam Adebayo, and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
“Take the training camp, for instance—back when the question was whose team it would be, his or Bam’s,” Jovic said. “It was the training camp in the Bahamas. The Bahamas training camp, that’s right. We were playing one-on-one: Bam, Jimmy, myself, and Jaime Jaquez. I think the count was… I had one win, Jaime had two, Bam had five, and I believe Jimmy had 28. I mean, you wouldn’t believe it.”
This was a no-contest. There was never any doubt from the outside looking in about whether the Heat were Butler’s or Adebayo’s team. If there was actually any within the building, this would have removed it.
This still isn’t the most impressive Butler practice story, though. He infamously beat the Minnesota Timberwolves’ starters with third-stringers as his teammates back in 2018.
There really isn’t a character quite like Butler in the NBA today. Jovic appeared to enjoy their time together on the Heat, and he marvels at how someone like him was able to dominate.
“It’s not that he’s exceptionally talented or creative in the traditional sense, but the way he works, that work ethic he possesses is incredible,” Jovic said. “For example, the guy doesn’t even dribble with his left hand. I tell everyone this: when he scored 56 points against Milwaukee in the playoffs—you know, when he hit that final three-pointer…He was dribbling from the left side with his right hand and went into a step-back with his right hand. It was just… it was unbelievable.
“He’s an incredible basketball player overall,” Jovic added. “That’s why he’s so good and such a fierce competitor.”
Now, Butler delivered many memorable moments during his time with the Heat from 2019 to 2025, but he was at his devastating best in the first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023. The Bucks were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference that year, while the Heat had only gotten to the playoffs as the No. 8 seed after beating the Chicago Bulls in the play-in tournament.
Jovic didn’t think they stood a chance against those Bucks and booked his ticket to go back to Serbia before the series began. He then realized he could never count Butler out.
“We were the eighth seed,” Jovic said. “By that point, I’d had enough of America, you know? It was my first year not playing, right? So I thought, let me just go home—go back for a bit, first time back from the NBA, you know, see friends, hang out. Anyway, after we beat Chicago, I got home, opened up my phone, and went on Booking.com… I said they will beat us four zeros, I’m going home right away.
“Who wants to wait?” Jovic continued. “There’s no way we’ll get them. I booked everything… And we beat them. Before the first game, you know, [Erik] Spoelstra come in the locker room, and he says ‘Whoever doesn’t believe that we’re going to win, leave the locker room right away.’ You know, the classic, classic motivation, you know that too.
“I’m sitting next to Jimmy, and suddenly—I ask him something, and he goes, ‘We’re winning this,'” Jovic added. “I’m like, ‘How are we winning this?’ He tells me, ‘There’s no one to guard me.’ And I’m thinking, Okay, sure, whatever. First off, the guy is crazy.”
Butler averaged 37.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game as the Heat beat the Bucks 4-1. He scored 56 points in Game 4 and was a man on a mission.
The Heat then took down the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics in the next two rounds to get to the NBA Finals. Butler had suffered an ankle injury against the Knicks, though, and just wasn’t quite the same force of nature against the Denver Nuggets on the big stage. The Nuggets beat the Heat in five games to clinch the first title in franchise history.
That was the second time that Butler had tasted defeat in the NBA Finals with the Heat. They had lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in 2020.
Going to the Finals twice in four years was still an impressive feat, and the Heat would have fancied their chances of getting back there with Butler. Unfortunately, they haven’t even won a playoff series since.
Butler would have a falling out with the Heat in 2024 and was traded to the Golden State Warriors in 2025. You wondered when they’d get back to relevancy after that trade, and they have now by acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo will now look to do what Butler couldn’t: win a title in Miami.
