“NBA has changed a lot, they don’t let you get into no brawls no more”: Jimmy Butler comments on why the rivalries are going weaker in the league these days

Not a believer of the notion “NBA lacks rivalries these days”, Jimmy Butler still feels brawls could help make games more interesting.

In a league full of players pretending to be tough guys, Jimmy Butler stands out to be the real man among the men. The leader of the Miami Heat is all set for his 6th All-Star appearance while having his team at the top of the Eastern Conference.

But it seems as if still, there is a lack of action for the Heat forward as he wishes to be in the good old NBA days when there were brawls going around.

Leading one of the toughest playing teams under the supervision of Pat Riley, the “Godfather” himself, Jimmy still feels there’s a need for more scuffles in the games so to get the rivalries at its very best.

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Remember a certain cold picture of Heat players waiting in the tunnel for the Nuggets players or more specifically, their MVP Nikola Jokic to arrive?

Jimmy Butler feels the need for brawls in the NBA

In a recent interview with the Complex’s Adam Caparell, Butler answered a question regarding rivalries in the league these days. He was asked if he thinks that are no such rivalries in the league anymore as there used to be in previous eras. The Heat star disagreed and blamed the strict rules for what is lagging in the game.

“I don’t think so. There are some real rivalries out there. I just think the game has changed in a lot of ways. They’re not letting you get into no brawls no more. Nobody’s going to let you do that. I wish that they would let us do that a little bit, if I’m just being honest, I really do think they’re still there.” Jimmy told Adam.

He continued, “The game has just changed. It’s not as much banging and knocking people to the ground anymore. You can’t do it like that—you get a flagrant 1, a flagrant 2, a tech, something. I wish it would go back to that time.”

Most people will think that Jimmy feeling that way might have to do the tussle between his teammate Markieff Morris and the Joker a couple of months ago, that had everyone in the Heat jersey involved that night.

But that has nothing to do with it, he doesn’t even consider that fight good enough for a brawl.

“I don’t think that’s a rivalry. It sounds good. But I don’t even want to get into it. He (Nikola Jokic) is a hell of a player.” Butler finished.

But when he first came into the league, he himself would have disagreed with the new Jimmy.

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Having Morris still out for so long after that scuffle might be a small reason he feels this way. But with players already going down to injuries much more than all the other eras, making these rules less strict would bring nothing but disaster for the association.