Jimmy Butler's absence from Sunday's 100-90 loss against the Detroit Pistons marked his 13th missed game of the season. Since joining the Heat in 2019, injuries have been an issue for the five-time All-Star, and at this point, some folks have raised questions about Butler's durability.
One such critic is Stan Van Gundy. The coach-turned-analyst recently pointed out a very interesting fact about Butler's injury woes for the Heat over the past three years. As SVG points out, Butler's time on the shelf is actually comparable to that of the oft-injured Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers:
Anthony Davis has missed 49 games for the Lakers over the past 3 seasons. Jimmy Butler has missed 48 games for the Heat in the same time frame.
— Stan Van Gundy (@realStanVG) December 20, 2021
Bernard Lee, Butler's sports agent, caught wind of the comparison and he had a rather aggressive reaction to what he believes to be an unfair statement from Van Gundy:
How did we get dragged into this?!?? DONT YOU PUT THAT EVIL ON ME STAN VAN BOBBY… DONT YOU PUT THAT ON US… https://t.co/9cyz3ElEwN
— Bernard Lee (@BernieoLee) December 20, 2021
Needless to say, Lee isn't having any of this. He's clearly unhappy about Butler being mentioned in the same breath as Anthony Davis, particularly when talking about injuries. In his statement, SVG is implying that the Heat star is, to a certain extent, injury-prone as well. Lee does not like the slander one bit and he decided to rather passionately sound off on the claim.
To be fair to Stan Van Gundy, the man is just stating facts here. It's actually quite surprising to realize just how much time Butler has spent on the shelf, especially compared to Anthony Davis. Just don't say that to Butler's agent.
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