Lakers News: After Yet Another Big Night, Heat's Jimmy Butler Draws Comparison To LA Great

All-NBA Miami Heat swingman Jimmy Butler did it again last night, leading his club to a 123-116 road upset win over the favored Boston Celtics in the opening game of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. The 33-year-old All-Star scored 35 points on 12-of-25 shooting from the floor (2-of-4 from long range) and 9-of-10 shooting from the charity stripe, seven assists, five rebounds and a whopping six steals while playing the passing lanes.

Through his 11 healthy contests in these playoffs, Butler is averaging 31.5 points on .522/.375/.802 shooting splits, 6.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2.1 steals and 0.7 blocks a night.

Prior to publishing a piece that fully unpacked Butler's contributions in Game 1, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated took to Twitter to make a fascinating all-time comparison for Butler.

Jimmy Butler is the closest thing to Kobe Bryant playing today. Gets to his spots, gets to the free throw line, gets defenders out of position with ball fakes. Monster game in a monster postseason for Butler.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) May 18, 2023

“He just gets to his strength zones,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra raved, per Mannix. “That’s a talent unto itself. He’s also willing to make the right play over and over and over. If it happens to be a pass, he’s not playing for numbers. He’s playing to try to help the offense get the best possible high-percentage shot. That’s a different language.”

Butler has been so great in these playoffs that he's frequently drawn, yes, the Michael Jordan comparison. The Bryant analog has been uttered less frequently, but makes sense, too, given that Bryant was very much emulating his idol MJ.

All three players are fearless inside, love pump-fakes, are automatic at drawing fouls, and relish taking advantage of defensive mismatches (which is pretty much everybody when they're cooking). Butler is more of a passer than Bryant was and generally less of a heat-check shooter, while Bryant had more of a predilection for taking really tough buckets.

On ESPN's Keyshawn, JWill & Max Show, Jay Williams and Max Kellerman took opposing perspectives on Mannix's bold proclamation.

"Kobe's offensive skill combined with athleticism is very different than Jimmy Butler," Williams opined. "Their games are very different. So the will or drive, those are aspects that, okay, that's one attribute of Kobe, Michael... any player that has a maniacal type mentality, you compare to Jimmy Butler, but the games are not the same... Jimmy Butler's game does not remind me of Kobe Bryant's."

Bryant looked to score and prioritized difficult shots more than Butler, who strives to involve his teammates and generally scores more in-rhythm. Both are masters of the midrange who are not great three-point shooters, and terrific defenders and scorers.

"The quote is that, look, Jimmy Butler is the closest thing to Kobe," Kellerman responded. "I think Jimmy Butler, given his two-way play, given the things that Mannix brought up, and given his -- 'maniacal' is the right word, and the position he plays, I agree with the statement. Probably closer to Kobe than anyone else at the moment."

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