Butler’s first finals tied with James for first in NBA history

Jimmy Butler proved his toughness once again, leading the Heat to beat the Lakers again almost by himself with Dragic still not back and Adebayor not finding his form, bringing the big score to 2-3 and postponing the ready championship presentation. How strong is Butler? The first time in his career to participate in the finals, he has a data with LeBron James tied for the first in NBA history!

#22 Jimmy Butler Heat Jersey

Although Butler led the Heat to beat the Lakers in G3 of the finals, the Heat still defeated the Lakers in G4 despite the comeback of Adebayor to make many people think the series will end in G5, especially in the case of Dragic still not ready to come back, many people even before the start of G5 have begun to long for LeBron James’ championship speech. But, once again, Butler came out and said no.

#22 Jimmy Butler Heat Jersey & #3 James Bryant Lakers Jersey

On a night when James scored 40 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists on 71.4% shooting, Davis also scored 28 points and 12 rebounds on 60% shooting, and even Pop scored 16 points, Dragic was not back and Adebayor only scored 13 points and 4 rebounds in 38 minutes of playing time, but it was the Heat who had the last laugh. This is certainly related to the excellent performance of the Heat’s shooting group led by Duncan Robinson, but in this game the Heat still had no advantage in front of the Lakers in terms of three-point shooting, and the Heat beat the Lakers again for only one reason, and that was Butler.

A lot of people were marveling at James’ efficient and comprehensive performance in this game, but Butler’s performance was also very good. In such a high-intensity battle of survival, Butler only rested for a total of 48 seconds, hit 11 out of 19 shots, shooting 57.9%, such offensive efficiency for a core guard is already very high, and he also got the highest 12 free throw opportunities and hit all of them, got 35 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, 5 steals and a cap of Triple-double stats, only 3 turnovers and 2 fouls, assists and steals were the highest in the game.

#22 Jimmy Butler Heat 2020-21 Association Edition Jersey

This is not Butler’s first 35+ triple-double in this finals, he got 40 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists on 70% shooting in the finals G3, becoming the first player in the history of the Heat to get 35+ triple-doubles in a single game in the finals, achieving a feat that was not achieved by LeBron James who reigned as the Finals MVP in the Heat. Now, Butler has got 35+ triple-double for the second time in this series, the only player to have gotten a triple-double in this finals so far.

How hard is it to get a 35+ triple-double in a single game in the Finals? In the long history of the NBA before this season only a total of four times to accomplish such a feat, the first is the 1969 finals in the seventh game Jerry West got 42 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, the second by James Worthy in the 1988 finals in the seventh game, the other two belong to LeBron James, in 2015 in the G2 and G5 are picked up such numbers. In other words, today’s Butler is already tied with James for first place in NBA history in terms of 35+ triple-doubles in the Finals! This is only Butler’s first trip to the Finals!

These numbers show how tough Butler is when he is “alone”. At that time, Butler’s task was not over yet, his Heat was still down 2-3, in G6 the Heat still faced a huge pressure of “renew or go home”, but two wins should give the Heat’s young players some confidence, Davis’s injury is also a huge advantage for the Heat, Butler can lead the Heat to repeat the story of 2016. Can Butler lead the Heat to repeat the 2016 Cavaliers’ story?

Why did the Heat retire Jordan’s No. 23 jersey?

Heat Jersey

February 23, 2020, the 2019-20 NBA regular season is in full swing. The Heat hosted the Cavaliers in today’s marquee battle in the East. During halftime of the game, the Heat held a No. 3 NBA jersey retirement ceremony for the team’s all-time legendary superstar Wade. During his time with the Heat, Wade led the Heat to the Finals five times, won the title three times and was elected FMVP once, while Wade is also the team’s all-time scoring leader and assists leader. In this way, Wade’s No. 3 jersey also became the sixth retired jersey in the history of the Heat. The previous 5 people had 4 Heat celebrities, respectively: Tim Hardaway, Mourning, O’Neal, Bosh.

#6 James Icon Edition Jersey

So the question arises, who is the other retired jersey of the Heat? He is the great Michael Jordan. As we all know, Jordan is recognized as the first person in the history of the NBA. Jordan has played for the Bulls and Wizards in his career, won the NBA championship 6 times, was elected FMVP 6 times, was elected regular season MVP 5 times, 10 times NBA scoring champion, and 1 time NBA best defensive player. Whether it is honor or legendary, Jordan’s greatness cannot be surpassed. So here’s the question: Jordan never played for the Heat, so why did the Heat retire his No. 23 jersey?

In the 2002-03 season, Jordan celebrated his final season. During Jordan’s last visit to the American Airlines Center, the Heat held a jersey retirement ceremony for Jordan’s number 23 jersey. Pat Riley, who was the Heat’s general manager at the time, said, “In appreciation of your great accomplishments and impact not only in the NBA, but around the world, we decided to hang up the No. 23 jersey and no one will ever wear No. 23 in Miami again.” The Heat’s move to retire the jersey of a player who never played for the home team also set a precedent in NBA history, and no player or team has ever been able to do so again.

It is worth mentioning that in the summer of 2010, another great No. 23 player in NBA history joined the Heat, and he was LeBron James. As Jordan’s No. 23 jersey had been retired by the Heat, James had to choose his equally favorite No. 6 jersey. After that James had advocated that the entire league retire Jordan’s No. 23 jersey, but this suggestion was not adopted. After James left the Heat in 2014, James switched back to wearing the No. 23 jersey.

In addition, the Heat retired the No. 3 jersey of NFL Miami Dolphins legend Dan Marino. As a local Miami superstar, Marino is very influential. It is worth mentioning that after retiring the No. 3 jersey for Wade today, the Heat may also retire Haslem’s No. 40 jersey and James’ No. 6 jersey in the future.