Miami Heat star forward Jimmy Butler has had one of the better NBA stories in league history, taking himself from Tomball, TX to Tyler Junior College and ultimately a Division I school before being selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.

Butler's rise through the ranks mirrored that same path, as he elevated himself from a defensive specialist to one of the best two-way players in the league. Now a six-time All-Star and five-time All-Defensive selection, Butler has been Heat's stabilizing since they acquired him in the 2019 offseason.

A move that led to Miami landing in the NBA Finals not long after that, with the Heat facing the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 NBA Finals.

Though Miami would fall to L.A. in six games that series, Butler performed well throughout, averaging 26.2 points, 9.8 assists, 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game while shooting 55.2 percent from the field. He was especially dominant in Game 5, tallying 35 points, 11 assists, 12 rebounds, five steals and one block while shooting 11-19 from the field.

Now heading into a Game 5 matchup against the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 NBA Finals, Butler was — understandably — asked if there's anything he remembers from that masterclass performance that can help him during Monday's matchup.

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“Absolutely nothing,” Butler says. “I think I was a different player then… The team looked a lot different then.”

Rather than Kevin Love, Gabe Vincent and Max Strus starting alongside Butler and Bam Adebayo in the 2020 NBA Finals, the Heat had Duncan Robinson, Jae Crowder and Tyler Herro starting.

Furthermore, where Robinson, Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin are the current mainstays on the Heat bench, 2020 saw Miami playing Kelly Olynyk, Kendrick Nunn and Andre Iguodala in the second unit.