Jimmy Butler has built a reputation for himself as a playoff riser. ‘Playoff Jimmy’ is a thing of legend, and when Steph Curry went down against the Timberwolves in Game 1, Warriors fans thought they’d get to witness Butler’s heroics firsthand. That was exactly what happened in Game 3, for the most part.
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In the 43 minutes he played, Jimmy Butler finished with 33 points, but that doesn’t tell the full story. He went scoreless for the last 8 minutes of the 4th quarter, resulting in the Wolves rallying back to win. While the talk of the town has been Butler’s offensive showing, Skip Bayless has taken it upon himself to throw a few jabs at the former Heat forward.
Despite a solid showing for the first three quarters, Bayless, as is often the case with his critiques, only brought up his 4th quarter showing. In the 11 minutes he played in the 4th, Butelr scored only 5 points, and was a miserable -11 in the +/- column. Butler’s last points in the 4th came from the line to put the Dubs ahead by 5. After that, the visitors went on a 25-15 run to seal the game and take the 2-1 series lead.
The former Undisputed analyst took to his X account to say, “Playoff Jimmy went quiet the final 8 minutes – as he more than occasionally has in big playoff games. Somewhere, Pat Riley is shrugging.”
Playoff Jimmy went quiet the final 8 minutes – as he more than occasionally has in big playoff games. Somewhere, Pat Riley is shrugging.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 11, 2025
Bringing up Riley to mock Butler seems a bit tasteless, especially when both sides in the Jimmy-Miami saga have accepted that it was probably high time for that relationship to end. In fact, when Riley addressed the press for his exit interview of this season, he brought up the whole Jimmy fiasco and expressed his gratitude for everything Butler gave the franchise in his time there.
“I remember the Bubble when he was hanging over the scorer’s table, exhausted and trying to win a title. I have that picture in my office,” Riley said.“It’s over. It’s done. I wish him well. Good luck to him. I hope deep down in his heart somewhere, he wishes us well too.”
Pat Riley on Jimmy Butler: “There’s no doubt that what happened with Jimmy had a tremendous impact on our team. The buck stops with me. I’ll take that hit if you want it.”
“I remember the Bubble when he was hanging over the scorer’s table exhausted and trying to win a title. I… pic.twitter.com/0EPS3i1kso
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) May 10, 2025
Riley’s words really do show that despite the snide jabs and petty shots that Jimmy and the organisation took toward each other, there was nothing but respect between them.
