“Fine Jimmy Butler for Tampering!”: Amidst Damian Lillard’s ‘$45,640,084 Hold Up’, Heat Star Imitates ‘Dame Time’ to Speed Up the Process

It has been almost two months since Damian Lillard demanded a trade out of Portland and the Trail Blazers are yet to facilitate a deal for their franchise’s greatest ever player. Amid a storm of trade reports, Dame’s camp had made it quite clear that Miami was their preferred destination before the NBA put an end to such explicit demands with a memo. A potential deal between the two teams regarding Lillard, who is set to earn $45,640,084 in the coming season, seems to be at a standstill now. While waiting for the Blazers star, Miami Heat centerpiece Jimmy Butler recently tried his best to speed up the process by mimicking Lillard’s signature ‘Dame Time’ celebration.

Like many other superstars in the league, Butler is currently hosting a camp of his own. A clip from the camp recently went viral as the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals MVP imitated Lillard’s iconic celebration, prompting fans to raise claims of tampering.

This isn’t the only instance where Jimmy Butler has tried recruiting the Portland Trail Blazers superstar. During the NBA playoffs, the Heat star had shared a screenshot on his Instagram Stories, revealing that he was listening to Dame’s music. A few weeks later, Jimmy G Buckets made his intentions even more clear. During his Li-Ning Tour in China, the two-way megastar mimicked Lillard’s celebration when playing a game of one-on-one with a fan.

Jimmy Butler imitates Damian Lillard’s iconic celebration

NBA superstars spend a lot of time in the summer playing with the kids attending their camps. Jimmy Butler is no different. Playing one-on-one with one of the attendees, the veteran forward casually knocked down a one-legged step-back three-pointer. Subsequently, Butler proceeded to do Damian Lillard’s iconic Dame Time celebration. Take a look at the clip in Brady Hawk’s tweet.

As soon as the video went viral on social media, NBA Twitter blew up with reactions. @man_on_venus and @camilo5678901 were among the group of people who accused Butler of “tampering”.