Jimmy Butler not only has LeBron James’ Miami Heat franchise record for triple-doubles, he also has James’ ongoing respect.
Speaking after Butler recorded his 10th triple-double as a member of the Heat, one more than James recorded in his four seasons with the franchise, James said his admiration for Butler has been enduring.
“Any time you’re playing this game throughout your career, there’s certain guys that stick out, that you know when you step on the floor, it’s going to be maximum effort every possession and that’s from both sides,” James said after Butler closed with 20 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in Sunday’s 113-107 victory over James’ Los Angeles Lakers at FTX Arena.
“And you’re gonna win some and you gonna lose some, but the respect after the game is always going to be it was fun and exciting to be in that matchup. And that’s been like that throughout Jimmy’s whole career, every time we’ve matched up. And I’d say throughout his whole career, because I’ve been in the league longer, obviously.”
Butler, halfway through his third season with the Heat, reached his 10th triple double in 139 games with the Heat. James’ nine came over his 294 regular-season games with the Heat.
James and Butler squared off in the 2020 NBA Finals won 4-2 by the Lakers during the pandemic bubble setting at Disney World. Butler had a pair of Heat triple-doubles in that series.
“Every time we’ve matched up, no matter what uniform he’s had on, I’ve had on, we’ve always battled it out,” James said.
“So I have nothing but respect for a guy that brings it every single night, brings his hard hat, punches his clock, leaves it all out on the floor.”
Sunday marked the third time Butler has recorded a triple-double with the Heat while recording only a single turnover. His 10 first-half assists were a career high for a half.
“He can set up guys for easy baskets in a myriad of ways,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team next faces the New York Knicks on Wednesday night at FTX Arena. “It’s just a great luxury for us, and he does a great job of finding our shooters in these random situations. He has a real instinct for that.”
Butler said he appreciated such moments of joining or surpassing the likes of James and Dwyane Wade in the Heat record book.
“It’s a blessing,” he said. “Any time you are in the same sentence with Hall of Famers and greats like LeBron and D-Wade, and what they have done for this organization and city, it says a lot. It says even more to my teammates because they are looking out for me just as much as anybody. A lot of that stuff goes out to them because they look out for me.”
As for James, he also played homage to the collective Heat.
“We just had too many breakdowns and versus a team that’s this well coached,” he said. “You can’t have multiple breakdowns throughout the course of a game, throughout the course of a possession, throughout the course of a first half or a quarter, because they’re going to make you pay.
“There’s a lot of teams in this league that, at times, won’t make you pay for mistakes. But they are not one of them. And they made us pay every time.”
Caffeinated Caleb
That Caleb Martin thrived as closer Sunday came as a surprise to no one on the Heat side.
Martin’s signature sequence came with the Heat up four with 7 seconds to play and the Lakers inbounding at midcourt following a timeout.
A Martin steal of Talen Horton-Tucker’s inbounds pass with 5.9 seconds left and his transition layup with 4.2 seconds to play sealed the victory.
“He’s a can of Red Bull,” Spoelstra said. “He’s like that in everything we do, whether it’s a pre-practice session, post-practice, his individual workouts.
“He does everything intense. He just has a flair for those kind of plays, those momentum plays.”
