The Jimmy Butler-Miami Heat saga is far from its conclusion even after weeks of drama. The star forward has been pushing for a trade while the franchise has remained adamant about keeping him. Although Butler might still have the energy to drag this out a little bit, Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo is done with his antics.
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The 65-year-old recently went off on Butler during his First Take appearance. Russo berated Butler for trying to push his way out when instead he should be focusing on playing more basketball for his team.
He said, “I’ve had enough of Jimmy Butler. Every five seconds, he wants to be traded.” Russo has a problem with the amount of games Butler has missed over the last few years. He said, “It’s the guy who missed 23 games last year.” The statistics get worse for Butler if we look at his career trajectory in the last few years.
He has not played 65 games or more in a season since he joined the Miami franchise. For the first three seasons, he played less than 60 games. Missing a slew of games per season hasn’t been all too much of a problem throughout his Miami tenure however. He earned a ton of credibility for taking Miami into the Finals while also bailing his team out in crunch-time moments.
It was last season that the injury bug reared its ugly head in regards to Jimmy. The 35-year-old missed the entirety of the playoffs after spraining his MCL.
Russo referred to Pat Riley’s comments after the conclusion of last season where he said that Butler will not get a contract extension. The 65-year-old backed Riley’s decision and stated that if he is never available for his team throughout the season, they have no reason to cater to all his demands. Russo also heaped praise on the Heat head coach while advising Butler to do his job.
Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo speaks highly of Erik Spoelstra while berating Jimmy Butler
Russo praised the people leading the Miami organization and outlined it as a reason for Butler to stay with the Heat. He stated that Riley is a Hall of Fame coach and executive, so the notion that he is making decisions against Butler just for the sake of it is untrue. He also heaped praise on Erik Spoelstra for his brilliance.
Russo said, “The head coach has won two championships, who everybody says…he’s one of the best strategists and coaches in the NBA and I gotta listen to Jimmy Butler not like the way he’s being utilized, a guy who missed 23 games last year?”
In Russo’s opinion, Butler has enough reasons to put this saga to rest and go out and win games for his team. The Heat are currently sixth in the East with an 18-17 record and they can use Butler’s 100% efforts to make it into another playoff.
