Disjointed. Lackadaisical. Disorganized.
Those are all words that have never been uttered to describe the Miami Heat during the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
Oh, did you think those were the start of an article about the Celtics?
The differences between the two teams in the Eastern Conference Finals were acknowledged well before the series and only became more stark after Miami stole Game 1 at TD Garden. While the Celtics are believed to be the more talented team, the Heat seem to play harder and smarter more consistently.
Much of the credit for that goes to Jimmy Butler. The journeyman superstar was never able to find the right fit with three other teams before arriving in South Beach in 2019, but it appears he's found the perfect match in team president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra.
Just because something works, however, doesn't mean the parties get along -- which is why a GQ video from two years ago is so revealing.
As part of its "Actually Me" series, GQ had Butler go onto popular websites and social media apps to directly respond to users' questions about him. And one fan got right to the heart of things.
"Real talk, (though), how good of a coach is Erik Spoelstra?" Instagram user BeingBravo asked.
Butler's praise in response was effusive.
"I've got so much respect and love for Coach Spo," Butler replied. "He is an incredible, phenomenal, all of those words, great coach. Because he really, really believes in his players. He empowers us to do whatever we can and want to do on the floor as long as we're playing hard and playing together.
"He just wants to win, man. He works so hard. He's always studying, always in communication with all the coaches, with all the players, all the way down the line. ... Sometimes it's not even a speech. It could just be a look. And it's like, 'You know what? I'm running through a wall for this guy.' "
Butler went on to call Spoelstra a future Basketball Hall of Fame coach who teaches him something new "every day."
For someone as direct and no-nonsense as Butler, this response carries meaning. He never minced words when talking about his relationships with previous teammates and coaches in Chicago, Minnesota and Philadelphia.
In fact, Butler's comments at his former locales line up a lot more closely with the sentiments recently shared by Celtics guard Marcus Smart about Boston coach Joe Mazzulla. Considering how matters ended for Butler and those teams, that's probably not comforting to Celtics fans.
On the other hand, like Mazzulla, Spoelstra was once considered underexperienced and unprepared to handle the star-studded combination of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Four NBA Finals appearances and two championships later, things have worked out for Spoelstra and the Heat.
