Jimmy Butler may have said before that he would never wear a Miami Heat jersey. But now that he did, he has no plans of exchanging it for any other colors ever again.
In a strong message highlighting his loyalty and love to the Miami franchise, Butler shared his plan to spend the remainder of his career with the team and retire as a Heat. He made the proclamation while speaking with Malika Andrews of ESPN. He also explained his viral 2012 message where he said he'll never wear a Heat jersey.
“When I'm coming into the league, the Heat used to beat the Bulls all the time when they had the Big 3, the Heatles, whatever you want to call them. So me getting drafted to the Bulls, we can't like the Miami Heat. You can't like D-Wade even though you went to the same school,” Butler noted.
“Then you fast forward and I’m playing with D-Wade with the Bulls, I'm like, ‘This guy is not a bad guy.' It was just [Tom Thibodeau] that kept hitting me upside my head. And now, full circle, it'll be the last jersey that I wear.”
Sure enough, Heat fans absolutely loved that message from Jimmy Butler. The Miami faithful quickly took to Twitter to react to the message. And the majority of responses showing their admiration for the veteran forward.
“I will run through a wall for Jimmy,” a fan wrote. Another one said, “Dude really is a glove fit for Miami. It's crazy.”
A third commenter said, “I love Jimmy man.” A Miami supporter added, “Damn Jimmy just havin everybody in they feelins huh.”
Here are more reactions to Butler's Heat retirement plan:
Considering how impactful Jimmy Butler has been for Miami over the last few years, it's truly not hard to see his jersey going up in the rafters of the team's arena. Of course it will be awesome if he can lead the franchise to another title. But there's no denying that he has done so much for the team as he became the embodiment of Heat culture.