“Jimmy Butler is having an MVP-level impact”: Crazy on-off rating differential reveals how the Heat star is spearheading them to another playoff run

Jimmy Butler has some eyebrow-raising stats which highlight his importance to the Miami Heat and their resurgence of late.

After the Miami Heat made it all the way to the NBA finals last year, there were great expectations for Jimmy Butler and the franchise going into this season. Unfortunately, they started the campaign incredibly slowly and almost seemed completely out of the race for the playoffs at times.

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Fast forward to today though, and the franchise sits 4^th in the East and has won 10 of its last 11 games. In case it wasn’t obvious already, the team has found its groove again. They are back to their best, and it’s all because of the return of Jimmy Butler.

If you are a hater of the Heat superstar, look away now, because you will not want to see this.

An astounding stat highlights just how valuable Jimmy Butler is to the Miami Heat

Jimmy Butler had been out at various different times during the early parts of the season. This along with injuries to some of their other players as well played a huge role in the franchise ‘underperforming’ at the time.

The team still has key players like Bam Adebayo and Avery Bradley out with injuries at the moment. And yet, Jimmy Butler has been able to steer this team to one of the top seeds in a competitive Eastern Conference. If that doesn’t scream MVP, we don’t know what does.

It gets even better though. reporter for the Miami Herald, Anthony Chiang recently put out a very telling tweet showing numerical proof of Jimmy Butler’s impact.

Since the start of February:

When Jimmy Butler is on the court, the Heat has outscored opponents by 8.7 points per 100 possessions.

When Butler is off the court, opponents have outscored the Heat by 8 points per 100 possessions.

That’s a net rating differential of 16.7 points!

— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) March 15, 2021

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The team has had to face immense criticism in the early parts of the season. But with their star now back on the court, it seems the Miami Heat are ready to trade blows with the best in the NBA once again.