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Even with the clock close to striking midnight on the Miami Heat's Cinderella playoff run, Jimmy Butler will be receiving plenty of praise for months, or perhaps even years, after proving once again that he is one of the game's premier playoff performers. However, Butler hasn't had the best of performances through the first four games of the 2023 NBA Finals, which is now causing some pundits such as Stephen A Smith to double down on their previous takes that seemed outlandish.
On the Monday morning episode of ESPN's First Take, Smith reiterated a previous point regarding Butler's abilities to lead his team to the promised land that would surely increase the size of the chip on the Heat star's shoulders.
“I know he's a star but there's levels to this. We've talked about him in such glowing terms that you almost felt like you're talking about [Jimmy Butler] in the same breath as a LeBron James, as the Kevin Durants of the world. Hell, like even the Devin Bookers of the world. No, he's not those guys,” Smith exclaimed.
“When I talk about the elite dudes offensively, Jimmy Butler is not a name that comes to mind.”
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"There's no question about the fact that he's a star… But when I talk about the elite dudes offensively, Jimmy Butler is not a name that comes to mind."
Stephen A. Smith says Jimmy is a star, but NOT a superstar 👀
(via @FirstTake)pic.twitter.com/kqhsrzNg5H
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 12, 2023
It may be unfair to shoehorn the Heat star into the mold of a player that he clearly isn't. But with a championship on the line, Stephen A Smith believes that Butler's greatest strength on offense — getting to the free-throw line — may not be the skillset that gets any team over the hump.
“Superstars don't depend on officials [like the Heat star does.] They're gonna get the ball in the bucket no matter what. And when you talk about those stars that I've mentioned, the Steph Curry[s], the LeBron James, the Kevin Durants of the world, or even to a lesser degree, the Devin Bookers of the world, when you talk about preeminent stars in this game, that's not what you need in order to get points,” Smith added.
Even with the pessimism surrounding Jimmy Butler and the Heat at the moment, the outcome of the NBA Finals isn't yet set in stone. And if the Heat manage to come alive once more like they've done throughout the playoffs, maybe Stephen A Smith finally changes his tune.
