Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler just continues to find ways to torment Boston sports fans, even on off days.
After spearheading the Heat to a Game 1 road win over the Celtics with a sensational 35-point performance to go with seven assists, five rebounds and six steals, Butler was back on the court Thursday but he wasn’t donning the usual Miami practice garb for the session.
Instead, the Heat star threw on a jersey of Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, which should bring up plenty of recent bad memories for Boston Bruins fans. Tkachuk was a catalyst for the Panthers in their first-round knockout of the Bruins in the Stanley Cup playoffs and became a villain during the series as he helped put an end to Boston’s historic season.
Butler was supporting Tkachuk and the Panthers as they began their Eastern Conference final Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes, but no doubt the move won’t ingratiate himself with those in the city of Boston. You can check out video of Butler getting up shots in the Tkachuk jersey courtesy of Playbook Sports.
Tkachuk does have a connection to Celtics star Jayson Tatum. They both were high school classmates at Chaminade Preparatory School located just outside of St. Louis.
But this was clearly another win for Butler in getting inside the heads of Boston fans, and he probably didn’t even do it on purpose.
