The Miami Heat had quite an offseason as they provided superstar Jimmy Butler with a lot of supporting cast by trading for Kyle Lowry and signing PJ Tucker, Markieff Morris, and more.
Aside from acquiring fresh faces, one of the Heat's own young players in Max Strus has been quietly ramping up his workload in this year's offseason. He certainly impressed Butler with his work ethic as they immediately formed a bond over time.
In a recent interview with the Five On The Floor Podcast, Strus detailed how his relationship with the Heat superstar evolved.
“I played one on one with Jimmy [Butler] before every game. That’s like his thing – he likes to play one-on-one. It would be me, him, and Udonis Haslem. We would just get Jimmy reps. Whatever he needed, we were there. Play defense. Whatever he wanted.”
The Heat have established what they call “Heat Culture” which basically means being the hardest worker out there and being obsessed with how you win basketball games.
Butler famously criticized and slammed former teammates due to their lack of work ethic, and that’s why Jimmy and the Heat are a match made in heaven as Butler is the type of player who loves to grind his way up.
Strus added that Butler always likes to get the best out of someone by pushing them to the limit.
“Jimmy likes people who play hard and have a chip on their shoulder and just want to win. So as much as he was going at me, I was going right back at him. So I think that might have gained a little trust and a little respect there just to not back down to anybody in that situation. So I think that definitely had something to do with it.”
The Miami Heat signed Max Strus to a training camp deal back in November of 2020, his contract was immediately converted to a 2-way deal as he showed a lot of potential and promise.
The undrafted forward played 39 games for the Heat last season and averaged 6.1 points in limited minutes. This offseason, Strus' efforts were rewarded with a two-year contract.
Strus is likely poised to have a big year for the Heat as he can be a solid piece off the bench because of his shooting.
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