Jimmy Butler was easy to get for the Heat heading to the NBA Finals

Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo (13) from left, Tyler Herro (14), Goran Dragic, right forward, Jimmy Butler, from second right, and Andre Iguodala, right, walk off the court celebrating their 112-109 win in Game 4 of an NBA Eastern Conference Basketball Final against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida (AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – It was June 30, 2019. The Miami Heat had an evening planned to recruit free agent Jimmy Butler, down to the last detail. They greeted him with music by the Irish singer Dermot Kennedy, one of his favorites. A buffet dinner was prepared, with tables overlooking the water of Biscayne Bay. They had player-turned-executives Shane Battier and Alonzo Mourning to talk about what it’s like to be part of the Heat.

And then it was time to go in, break up into a smaller group, get down to business, and provide the sales pitch. Butler never allowed Heat president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra to even get started. There was no need. He had already chosen Miami. He just hadn’t told them yet.

“I was like, ‘I’m home,'” Butler said.

The machinations of a signing and trade continued before things could get official, but just like that, the Heat had a new star and a new hope. Season 1 of the Butler era in Miami will end in a setting he’s never been to before: the NBA Finals. The Heat are Eastern Conference champions and play Western champion Los Angeles Lakers in a series of titles that begins Wednesday night.

“Being able to get someone like Jimmy Butler was one of the most incredible recruiting visits we’ve ever had,” Spoelstra said. “Last June, it was very conversational, and after 20 minutes you felt like we were so aligned on how we viewed the competition, the work and the culture, everything. We didn’t even get onto a pitch with him. We really just had dinner. “

Butler was Miami’s top scorer in the regular season, made the All-NBA team and is averaging 20.7 points in the first 15 games of this postseason, 0.2 behind Goran Dragic for the team lead, which couldn’t be from minor to Butler. You don’t just tell your teammates that you don’t mind getting credit for things. He demands that they claim the credit, want the credit, step up and take big shots.

“He came in and bought the system,” said Heat center Bam Adebayo, who led the way in a Game 6 win over Boston on Sunday night with 32 points and 14 rebounds. “He didn’t care if he scored. You know, you have to think about that. Many top players, they don’t have the ball, they get angry. I appreciate Jimmy because at the end of the day, we feed on each other. “

Butler is, for lack of a better word, difficult. He is stubborn. It is driven. He likes things his way. The Heat have not tried to change that, nor will they. It fits perfectly into what Spoelstra calls the franchise’s DNA, its fabric, its mantra of not apologizing for who and what the Heat are and what the program Riley built represents. With some teams, Butler hasn’t been a perfect fit. With Miami, the biggest problem Spoelstra has had with Butler is when he lured his teammates to the gym too early for workouts; Turns out, even for the Heat who love hard work, a 3:30 a.m. session before training camp practice is frowned upon.

“But if you want to do a practice and compete, Jimmy will make sure that goes to a different level,” Spoelstra said. “Because you can’t do anything without competing fiercely and doing whatever it takes to win.”

Longtime Miami star Dwyane Wade is close to Butler, and Wade’s retirement at the end of last season left an obvious gap in the team’s best player to fill. He had been filling Butler’s head for years talking about how the Heat’s style, the “culture” they love to talk about, was a perfect fit for him. Wade is a Marquette guy, like Butler. They were brief teammates in Chicago. Butler doesn’t trust many people. Wade has your confidence.

Butler never doubted that Wade was right. The fit was perfect in Miami.

“It all comes down to being loved, being appreciated for what you bring to the table,” Butler said. “And as I’ve said over and over again, as Spo constantly says, we are not for everyone. I’m not for everyone, but here I am. “

Butler wore a “bad teammate” tag in Minnesota. His stint in Philadelphia, sent there early last season, didn’t last long, and the Heat convinced the 76ers to do their part in the signing and trade that brought Butler to Miami after that waterside dinner was not. difficult. (Finding other teams to help ease the deal was, but the Heat pulled it off.) In Miami, they laugh at the idea that Butler is a locker room problem.

Dragic and Butler will talk about soccer all day; Butler has even learned a bit of Slovenian, the native language of his base, just to show him that he cares. Rookie guard Tyler Herro had a 37-point game earlier in the East final; Butler showed up for work the next day in Herro’s high school shirt. The Heat had a small party early Monday morning to celebrate their arrival in the finals; Butler showed up for that in a University of Portland jersey with Spoelstra’s name on the back and the number 30 that he wore there as a guard 30 years ago.

That’s what i wanted. The NBA Finals are your reward.

“I always wanted to win, to do whatever it took to win,” Butler said. “Nobody takes it personally because we all have the same agenda. It is not for statistics. It is not for the fame. It’s not for any of that. It’s winning a championship. My leadership style works here. “

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