The Miami Heat are looking to eliminate the Atlanta Hawks and book their place in the second round of the playoffs after a dominant Game 4 win over the Hawks. Miami is up 3-1 in the series and are in the drivers’ seat. While we have seen that 3-1 leads aren’t safe, the Heat look to have a lot of positive momentum and will look to close this series out back in Miami.
However, there was some alleged tension in the Heat locker room according to analyst Skip Bayless. Skip claimed that star Jimmy Butler had told Erik Spoelstra that he no longer wanted to share the floor with Oladipo.
“Both games he has not seen the light of play. Why is that? Well I was told it’s because Jimmy [Butler] just flat out told Spo (Heat coach Erik Spoelstra), ‘I don’t want to share the floor with him.'” (h/t Divij Kulkarni via Fadeaway World)
Oladipo seemingly responded to this during the Heat’s post-game press conference by dapping up Jimmy as he came for his interviews.
Victor Oladipo clowns Skip Bayless 😂😂😂
(h/t @AhnFireDigital) pic.twitter.com/4JW3ZCggTc
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 25, 2022
Oladipo directly referenced the report where Skip said that Butler hates him and called it cute. Considering how hard Butler recruited Oladipo to Miami when he was still with the Indiana Pacers, it would be surprising to hear that the relationship between them soured so quickly, especially considering Oladipo has been injured for most of the season.
The Heat are a team that has dust-ups with each other, but that is because they play with infinite passion. Jimmy Butler almost got beaten up by Udonis Haslem two weeks before the playoffs and now they look to be one of the strongest teams in the Eastern Conference.
If they keep dealing with any discordance by working it out and not letting it affect them on the court, they will be stronger mentally through the playoff slog.
