Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat is “stupidly locked in” for the playoffs and a first-round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks, according to Butler.
“I think I’m stupidly locked in, I can tell you that,” he said Thursday. “The amount of film that I watch, the amount of time that I spend on the court working on my game, trying to figure out where everybody’s going to be at on the floor. It’s a different type of year for everybody. I’m not the only one that’s like this, everybody is, but I think they expect me to be dialed in, locked in. Be a completely different individual player on both sides of the ball, in every aspect of the game, and I like it. It’s kinda like you don’t hold anything back and you leave everything out there. That’s what I’m here for. ”
Butler, who established himself as a bonafide star last year by leading the Heat to the NBA Finals on the bubble and is having an under-the-radar All-NBA season this year, exemplifies this quote perfectly. In leading the Heat to the sixth seed, he is scoring more points, averaging more steals, averaging a career-high in assists, and having his best shooting season.
It’s also amusing because he’s the same guy who used to work with third-string Wolves players and then took the team’s starters off the court to prove a point. Butler is similar to the NBA’s Chuck Norris in that there is a lot of myth about how good he really is. Jimmy-isms, Butler-isms, or anything more bombastic can be called quotes like “I guess I’m stupidly locked in.”
When asked about ex-Bulls teammate Bobby Portis, who now plays for the Bucks, Butler had another fantastic quote.
It is, however, entertaining to see Butler — with his persona and presence — leading the Heat into the playoffs, where they will face the Bucks, whom they defeated in the playoffs last year en route to the NBA Finals. This year’s matchup is a 3-6 tie, but the Heat are the underdog as the lower seed looking for an upset. To get there, we are apparently going to see the “stupidly locked in” Butler try and ruin the Bucks’ title chances.
