MIAMI — Jimmy Butler III sat on the Golden State Warriors bench and watched a nearly 40-second video of his Miami Heat highlights play on the big screen above him at Kaseya Center.
From his iconic hunched-over, in-exhaustion moment in the 2020 NBA Finals to some of the other hits from his five-plus seasons with the Heat, Butler watched the tribute.
When the video ended, Butler was introduced by the Miami public address announcer as the last Warrior to be announced in the starting lineup. Butler raised both his arms in the air as a sign of appreciation to the fans who cheered him.
Then, the Heat spoiled Butler’s return with a 112-86 rout over the Stephen Curry-less Warriors before a sellout crowd of 19,897.
“I got a lot of love in the city for the fan base here,” Butler said. “Video was nice. I won’t say that there was a lot of emotions, though. I think I went into this thing level-headed. We wanted to win a game. It didn’t go the way that we planned. We’ll be all right.
“… I mean [the video] took me back to some good times when I was wearing a Miami Heat jersey. Very appreciative of those times, to help me become the player that I am, the individual that I am in this league, the teammate, the leader, all of those things. I don’t think I could be who I am today without my opportunity here.”
Butler, who was booed the majority of the time when he touched the ball, missed 5 of his first 6 shots before finishing with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Miami’s starting five all scored in double figures, led by Bam Adebayo’s 27 points and eight rebounds.
Just about the only thing that went wrong for Miami on this night was that the hype video which precedes its lineup announcement was played without audio. Heat fans provided their own soundtrack by chanting, “Let’s go, Heat!”
“I didn’t know what was going on pregame because there was a video with no sound,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said when asked how amped up the atmosphere was for Butler’s return. “So, I was wondering what was happening. Miami, it’s a great place to live, and so people don’t ever seem too amped up around here. They’re living a good life. So it really wasn’t that rabid of an environment.
“It was typical Miami, and I think the main part of Jimmy’s return is that the Heat were ready and [Miami coach Erik Spoelstra] had them ready. I mean you shoot 17-for-25 from 3, you’re going to win. But I thought it was how hard they played, how well they competed. They took it to us tonight.”
The Warriors have opened this six-game road trip with two consecutive losses at Atlanta and Miami. Curry missed both with a pelvic contusion, although Kerr says he expects his franchise star to play in the next game on Friday at New Orleans.
“We’re living, we are in the fight and we got 10 games to go and I can’t wait,” said Kerr, whose Warriors are clinging to the sixth playoff seed in the Western Conference, ahead of the LA Clippers by a half-game. “I think Friday’s the biggest game of the year for us. We’ve lost two games in a row, very poor performances. It’s time, and we got to bounce back and that’s what good teams do and I’m confident that we’ll do that.”
Butler wanted the win badly in his return to Miami. He said he caught up with a few members of the Heat like former teammate Kevin Love. But he also said that his chapter with the Heat was over.
Butler was traded by the Heat to the Warriors before the trading deadline after the All-Star expressed his desire to be traded. Butler wanted a contract extension, and when he said he wasn’t playing with joy anymore in his situation, the partnership began to deteriorate. Miami suspended him multiple times for a variety of violations before he was traded.
Butler signed a two-year, $111 million contract extension upon being traded to the Warriors and has repeatedly talked about how his joy is back and how much he feels wanted by the team.
He spent the past couple of days in Miami visiting his coffee shop, playing dominoes with friends and, most important, spending time with his family and kids.
“A chapter has ended,” Butler said of his time with the Heat. “What I will say is I always say I’m very appreciative for the time here, the bonds that I’ve built here and when you look down the road, it’s just a huge part of my career.
“So, I continue to say that I’m very grateful. I ain’t spiteful towards nobody. Always grateful for the opportunity. A lot of the fan base. … It’s not bad. It’s not all bad.”