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Jimmy Butler has always been one of the better perimeter defenders in the NBA. On Wednesday in a win against the Los Angeles Lakers, Butler tied his season-high with six steals. After the game, he revealed that his penchant for playing defense came from his early days in the league with the Chicago Bulls and a conversation he had with Richard Hamilton as per Brady Hawk of Five Reasons Sports. Butler wasn't yet the All-Star he'd eventually become and none of his teammates would pass him the ball.
Very interesting stuff!
I asked Jimmy Butler tonight about hitting passing lanes, and when it started
“Richard Hamilton taught me at a young age, because I wasn’t that good, nobody wanted to pass me the ball.”
“He always told me if you want to score, play good defense.”
More: pic.twitter.com/YeiRR5NvCN
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) December 29, 2022
“He always told me, if you want to score and you want to get the ball, play good defense and get a steal and go get a layup,” Butler said. “Or crash the boards and get and offensive rebound. Nobody's going to pass to you, so you got to go get it. To this day, that sticks in my head, if I want to be able to go shoot the ball, go get it and get an easy one. Get a layup or get an offensive rebound.”
This was the third time this season that Jimmy Butler has come up with six steals in a game. He reached that number back on Oct. 27 against the Golden State Warriors and then again on Nov. 7 against the Portland Trail Blazers. Both those games the Heat lost but they managed to get the win this time against the Lakers.
Coming into the game, Butler was averaging 21.8 points per game, 6.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.9 steals while shooting 52.9 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from three-point range. He has missed time this season due to injury but appears to be healthy now. The win pushed the Heat back over .500 at 18-17.
