The Miami Heat suffered a surprising sweep to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs after a marvelous run to the NBA Finals in the Orlando Bubble. With the Tokyo Olympics right around the corner, players are starting to make their final decisions. Heat star Jimmy Butler has made his decision and has decided to skip the Olympics and aim for more rest and recovery after a grueling couple of seasons, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
“Jimmy Butler has opted to bypass an invitation from USA Basketball to participate in this summer’s Tokyo Olympics.”
It has been a difficult past couple of seasons and Butler has decided to rest up to prepare for the 2021 NBA season after a short ending to their playoff run. The Heat as a team were affected by injuries and COVID-19 issues in 2021– just like every other team in the league.
Participating in the Olympics would push them until mid-August and with the NBA's return to a normal October-June schedule, it would give just a short amount of time for an offseason.
Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is among one of the NBA stars expected to participate in Tokyo, and more decisions should come out within the next couple of days regarding the team headed to try and claim a gold medal.
Rest up, Jimmy Butler, and prepare for the 2021 season.
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