Miami Heat Fans Must Now Watch "Special" Jimmy Butler In Postseason

As the “Playoff Jimmy” mantra was officially born on the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler has continued his postseason dominance for the Golden State Warriors.

On First Things First, Chris Broussard broke down Butler’s most important attribute and how it’s led to success for the Warriors.

“They were going down from the get-go, especially when Jimmy Buckets was not out for the series,” Broussard explained. “But my biggest takeaway outside of that is Jimmy Butler, this is serious, is special. Like, this dude is special. Steph is special because of his shooting ability. Draymond is special because of his defense and playmaking. Jimmy Butler is special because of his will. Like yesterday, he willed himself through the game. He was playing in pain, I think, throughout that whole game. There were a few times you could see it looked like the injury got re-aggravated, he fought through it, and then he willed them to victory. 14 points in the fourth quarter after scoring 13 throughout the first three quarters. And then that rebound. It’s the rebound that is heard around the world.”

Butler is primarily playing as the second option behind Stephen Curry. Despite displaying that he can still reach a high level in the postseason, as he did with the Heat, he also showed his ability to remain in a connector role, enabling his teammates to reach better versions of themselves. Against the Houston Rockets, Butler is averaging 18.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and four assists on 54.5 percent shooting and 50 percent from three-point range.

PAUL PIERCE CLAIMS PAT RILEY IS “SINGLE-HANDEDLY” RUINING HEAT CULTURE

Despite being one of the primary figures who built the Miami Heat into a successful organization, Pat Riley is facing considerable criticism following two consecutive first-round exits.

On the Speak show for Fox Sports, Paul Pierce explains why Riley deserved most of the blame for the Heat’s recent shortcomings.

“Pat Riley is single handily tearing down Heat Culture… guys don’t want to have their lives off the court monitored as grown men and be yelled at like little kids.. something has to change for Heat Culture to get back where needs to be”

— Paul Pierce on what’s next for MIA… pic.twitter.com/nRihPb7VsS
— Heat Culture (@HeatCulture13) April 30, 2025

“I feel like Pat Riley is kind of like single-handedly tearing down Heat Culture,” Pierce said. “You run the face of the culture in Jimmy Butler out, and you see him in Golden State thriving and having an opportunity to push Golden State to the next round. You have got to understand that other superstar players watch this. They’re talking in locker rooms. They talk on All-Star weekend. They talk in the summer when they’re working out like ‘man, do we want to go down there and really play under the Heat Culture with these types of things going on?’ I really believe some things have to change within the Heat Culture. They have to revamp it, realign the rules, get a new memo, or something.”

Pierce was one of the first people to publicly call out the Butler and Heat tenure, which faced more tension behind the scenes than most expected. As of now, the Heat’s success since 2020 appears to be attributed mainly to Butler.

JEFF TEAGUE ADAMANTLY SAYS PAT RILEY NEEDS TO RETIRE AFTER DISGRACEFUL PERFORMANCE

Losing to a superior team is one thing, but getting blown out at home in a must-win elimination game by 55 points is another thing entirely.

On the Club 520 Podcast show, Jeff Teague reacted to the Miami Heat’s beatdown at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“They should retire Pat Riley right there,” Teague explained. “It’s time to go, Pat. I feel them, though. This is my theory. You know y’all not about to win, so why the (expletive) we got to travel back to Cleveland? Yeah, let’s just look like we can’t compete. Like, let’s not make it close. I mean, we were trying the first three games. We lost. But the last game, let that (expletive) cook bro. I legit would have walked into the locker room and said, ‘(expletive), I know y’all are not trying to fly back to Cleveland for one more night.’ If we’re playing good that first quarter, let’s go to work. We're hoopers now. We like to play. But if they start beating our (expletive), take me out.”

The most significant offseason move the Heat made last year was signing Alec Burks. All things considered, he was solid throughout the year. But it was clearly not enough, even if the Heat had kept Jimmy Butler. With more clarity regarding Butler's future absence, the Heat will need to make several moves to compensate for his departure.

Bryan Townes is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at btownesjr@gmail.com or on X @bryantownesjr11. Follow our coverage on Facebook