Miami Heat power forward Kevin Love has teamed up with some of the best players in the game, especially during his eight-year stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland. Each of them perennial All-Star candidates to this day.
However, his brief tenure with the Heat has opened his eyes to the greatness of a less heralded but quite popular star: Jimmy Butler.
Butler is currently rampaging through the 2023 NBA Playoffs with averages of 31.9 points, 5.6 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. All while shooting a sparkling 55.1 percent from the field and going 13-33 from 3-point range to boot.
Long known to elevate his game during the postseason, Butler has also managed to go from scoring 4.9 points per game in the fourth quarter during the regular season to 6.1 points per game in the playoffs, per ESPN’s Andrew Lopez.
All of which has led to Love claiming that “[Butler] is the best closer in the game…”
“He’s somebody who’s special, brings it every single night, sets the tone for us,” Love says. “And he does it in different ways. When the ball is in his hand, whether you come and double or not, he’s going to make a play, we’re going to get an open shot.”
For someone that's played beside two of the best closers in history in LeBron and Kyrie, Love’s comments are truly curious.
After all, Irving led all players in the 2022-23 regular season in fourth-quarter scoring with 9.5 points per game, LeBron ranked third with 8.4 points per game and Butler ranked 43rd with 5.2 points per game. Even in fourth quarter assists, James (1.9) edged out Butler (1.8).
Nonetheless, there's no doubt that Butler is currently at the top of his game.
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