You read the headline. For Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler, Game 7 will be his legacy-defining game.

We’ve seen him smiling on the bench; Butler is still confident that the Heat can get it done. Heck, he even eerily said this last year.

Maybe this is all part of his plan. But in reality, all the pressure is on him right now. Game 6 might have broken Miami's spirit. It might have broken Butler's.

The Boston Celtics are entering Game 7 with all the momentum and confidence in the world. The Heat, meanwhile, are probably still in a state of shell shock from Derrick White's epic game-winner from Game 6. They were one stop away from advancing to the NBA Finals. Heck, all they needed was just a tenth of a second off the game clock and they would be game planning for the Denver Nuggets right now.

But no. For Butler, as he has done all his life, he must take the hardest road. And Game 7 will be his most difficult challenge yet.

Jimmy Butler, the all-timer?

These playoffs, well, on the Eastern Conference side of the bracket at least, have been all about Jimmy Butler.

So, when we say Butler’s legacy is on the line here, we’re not talking about the underdog version of Butler. We’re not talking about the 30th  overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft in Butler. Not the Butler who has defied the odds of life over and over again.

We’re talking about the all-timer — the version of Butler that’s going to rewrite history and force himself into the NBA Top 75 list.

We’re talking about Butler, the all-time playoff performer — the one who always comes up big in the playoffs.

That’s the version of Butler that’s hanging in the balance ahead of Game 7.

Sure, he has proven it over and over in the past with several teams now. The Philadelphia 76ers arguably had their best postseason run with Butler in town. The Minnesota Timberwolves broke their playoff drought when Butler was leading the way.

Now, he has etched this era of the rich Heat basketball history as the Jimmy Butler era. He led Miami on an unprecedented Finals run in the 2020 NBA bubble and had two legacy-building games against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in that series before eventually coming up short.

And now, he’s led the 2022-23 Heat to heights where a play-in team, an 8th seed, should never have reached.

But that doesn't matter now. The Heat are already here at the doorstep of the NBA Finals. In fact, they've been at this doorstep for a week now. Those underdog storylines, 8th seed and all, are out the window.

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No matter how you look at it, if they lose this series after going up 3-0, that stain of becoming the first team ever to blow such a lead in the NBA Playoffs will be part of his record. That would be such a blow to the legacy Butler has built, especially in this postseason.

What should Butler do?

Well, simply put, Butler needs to be Playoff Jimmy. There is no other version that should show up for the Heat than this iteration of Butler.

It certainly shouldn't be the version that showed up in Game 6. That version of Butler looked intimidated, hesitant, and lacked the aggression that the Heat needed to win.

Butler should come into Game 7 with an attack-first mentality. He should set the tone early, put his head down, and relentlessly attack Boston's defense. And he should do it without any hesitation or second-guessing — none of those pump-fakes in the lane. Just straight up attack the paint, just as we saw in the last few minutes of Game 6.

If that version of Butler shows up, Miami might just pull it off. And if Butler is able to get it done, the legend of Playoff Jimmy will grow even further.