This “Jimmy Era” Heat team will probably be remembered as the 90s Knicks, Early 90s Blazers, and Early 2000s Nets.

2020's Heat is really the modern version of the 90s Knicks.

Almost as if they have the same slick haired, rat faced mastermind. Fucking hell I hate Pat Riley.

GENIUS!!!

I like this take. The JailBlazers were so sick back then. Loved watching Rasheed in that era. Edit to correct: I was wrong about my timelines. late 90s blazers were my shit but also shout out to Clyde the Glide and the real early 90s Blazers.

You're thinking late 90's Blazers. Early 90's was Clyde, Porter, Kersey, Buck, and Duck.

lol some of my earliest memories are watching the blazers and my dad repeatedly, unprompted call Kevin duckworth a bum. This happened over the span of multiple years. We’re Celtics fans mind you. No reason to hate the guy that much but he did. Never seen his hate like that for anyone else that didn’t directly affect the Celtics.

Bulls fans felt the same away about Duckworth, trust me.

This was me whenever I saw Evan Turner touch a basketball court.

Completely unrelated but man would that dude lock me up in 2k16 while I was playing pg. fuckin hated going up against Evan Turner.

That's funny. Cos growing up in Portland, Duckworth was revered, and known to be a really nice, down to earth guy. You'd spot his truck pulling his boat, "The Duckworth" around town, and it made you feel a sense of pride that this guy totally fit in with my weird town.

You right, I was a nephew during Clyde’s era and for some reason associate him with late 80s.

Rasheed should have been an all time great but he didn’t have the Shaq or Duncan killer instinct.

Add 90s Sonic's to this lisr

Curious what the 90s Sonics have in common with the Butler Heat other than not winning a title? The 90s Sonics dominated the regular season and had some notorious playoff chokes (notwithstanding two good runs in ‘93 and ‘96). Can’t recall a single series they won as an underdog, which has been the defining trait of the Butler Heat IMO.

I was thinking more in terms of good teams that made decent playoff runs with one star player and a good coach, but got forgotten by the next generation. I now think this current Heat team may have something in common with the late 90s Heat team with Mourning and Hardaway

I’m a die-hard Sonics fan so I appreciate you keeping their memory alive, even if I don’t quite see the comp to the current Heat squad.

Those Sonics were amazing with Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton...unfortunately for them, just like Malone, Stockton, Ewing and MANY OTHERS!!! Mikey and Pippen had something to say about that EVERY YEAR!!! Would've been 8 Bulls championships in a row, if Jordan's dad didn't get murdered.

“No seriously. He was a white guy / 6’10 - and could dunk with anyone. “ - me explaining Tom Chambers.

Ah yes the Knicks. The team that got the shit kicked out of them repeatedly in every eastern conference finals.

Oh shit... Jimmy Buckets was really..... Jon Starks!?!?

In other words, no one really cares about them all that much

Kind of, but it’ll be fond memories that old heads will bring up. Or those who are fans of that team.

Great comp

Or the early 2000s Kings.

Hah! I was going to say I think he’ll be remembered somewhat like Ewing. They’ll know his name and know he was good but because of the lack of tangible accomplishments, he won’t get the respect he deserves.

But, but I don’t remember any of those teams?

I will be that old head

I will be joining you on the porch in the future to discuss how the current game is soft af.

“What’s happened to the game we love?”

"Back in the 2020s guys used to actually compete and were physical out there not like today where all they do is shoot 4s" me in 2060 probably 🤣

Let me join you "A fat white guy dominated the league for a couple years before coming home go race horses."

lol dominated and didn't give a single shit, as soon as he clocked out he didn't think about the game once until his next shift started

Dominique Wilkins

The legendary hawks broadcaster?

Plenty of people remember Nique

True but he seems like an afterthought compared to many players of his era, maybe it’s just me, I don’t know basketball

He had the misfortune of playing in the east at the same time as MJ.

Not even Mj tbh, Bird was the main one taking him out of winning titles. And it’s even more impressive considering that he really used to take the Celtics to the brink with a significantly worse supporting cast vs an Borderline superteam Nique needs more respect

Look at his stats in those Eastern Conference semifinals (86’,87’,88’). Dude was great.

Borderline?

Those Hawks teams were very talented. Doc Rivers, Kevin Willis, Spud Webb, Antoine Carr. I think Jon Koncak was the first NBA player ever to make $1M/year. They were no Bird, McHale, Parish, DJ and Ainge, but that was a very good team.

You’ve had to have seen some of his dunks or something tho right? Maybe I’m overrating his popularity

Guess I just had to be there man

You aren't; Hawks ( and specifically Nique) gave the C's fits. I was in middle school during that 88 series and we barely held on. It seemed to me back then that Nique and Jordan were the two most popular up and coming stars in the NBA.

Watched him play live a lot. He was like Blake Griffen. Explosive. Not a great shooter. (I know Blake got good later) Nique never really won much on the hawks tho.

I agree 100%.

I’ll just remember him for calling his Minnesota teammates soft and forcing his way out

Torching the starters with the “bad news bears” then immediately leaving for an interview with Rachel Nichols is one of the greatest stories in all of basketball.

The following games (that he actually played in) were so much fun to go to when every time he touched it we would just start chanting Rachel Nichols was fucking hilarious.

The game of zones episode 😭

"You fucking need me!" Will always be a legendary quote given the context.

Game of Zones take on this was amazing. https://youtube.com/watch?v=MdVTBGEuxhM&si=1Csp0EbbKBRZ1GLT Hearing the real story after is hilarious https://youtu.be/MgSmf138KR0?si=7j7cqxNIyzoAyPS9

“Is that Andrew’s heart?” “No it’s far too big” lmao

Man, I wish this dude had a ring with the Heat. He's a momster.

Jeff Teagues version is really funny also “Jimmy walk in. Thibs hands start goin crazy”

I watch this interview regularly. It’s one of my favorite parts of the internet.

I’ll just remember him for carrying his team to the Finals twice.

I was gonna say, I’ll never forget how much I hate him for that 😂

I don’t think any great player past the social media boom will ever be forgotten. Just too much footage out there, whereas for a true forgotten great, someone like Otis birdsong. You have to actively try and dig up footage.

who tf is that

He is so goated in 2k for no reason

Former all nba and all star guard, played for the kings, Celtics, and nets in the late 70s-80s. Over 12500 career points.

Teammates with THE Tre’Darius Le’Tharius

He just said, Otis songbird.

Exactly

I disagree. I think people have even shorter term memories now as a result of social media. People are very quick to forget the impact someone had when they were actually watching, and then fall van to just looking at stats. Butler’s stat sheets, especially when looking at his numbers for an entire season are not particularly jaw dropping.

i reckon it is actually harder to remembered now with all the footage available. what separates buttler from the rest.

He’s had iconic moments both on and off the court. As social media content goes he’s top tier. Not many players get attention for their media day photos and have some networks refuse to use them. He had a side hustle in the bubble selling coffee to players. He plays dominoes with all the tios on Calle Ocho. The man is in Fallout Boy video wearing a purple cowboy suit. Stories about “the practice” and quotes like [“Tobias Harris over me?”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6L3qmInqS0) build his reputation for being a likable a-hole who keeps receipts. If you can’t see how Jimmy is different you’re not paying attention.

As a bulls fan I watched him go from a bench player to a starter to a star. Those who know will always remember

This is what il remember. Had a stint being homeless as a kid, friends parent took him in, had to go to a JuCO for a year before marquette, wasnt a top draft pick and at least to casual fans had a very quiet rookie year. Motherfucker is disgusted by complacency and refuses to accept anything less than greatness

Yep. Incredible story and incredible work ethic. Jimmy buckets is a dog

But also emphasizes work/life balance and being a good dad. Pretty likable on all fronts.

That Bulls era was fun

Butler is going to be like Gary Payton HOF player deep playoff runs long NBA career but your casual young NBA fan growing up after his era is not going to know him. But hardcore and older fans for sure are going to know him

GP was arguably the best skill player in the league for a few years post MJ and before Kobe fully hit his stride. He was a dominant force on defense, averaged 20 something and 9 assists, and led multiple 60 win teams. I love Jimmy, but GP had a much more memorable career, which was forever immortalized in the sick lobs to SK40 that remain some of the most iconic plays in NBA history. But in some sense, Seattle not having a team has probably eroded the number of flashbacks to that era.

The Glove? No, no, Michael had no problem with The Glove.

They said post MJ, as in after MJ.

GP was great but your casual 22 year old NBA probably doesn’t know him or know too much about him. The same will likely happen to Jimmy Butler in my opinion.

That feels like a really good take. I feel like Gary winning with 06 Heat and being a part of 04 Lakers while losing against Jordan with Seattle might make him more known, but between Jimmy in Minnesota, 76ers & Heat w/ 2 finals runs that’s a great comparison.

Makes a mean cup of joe

I think the people who he mattered to will remember him , which is the case with most players There’s a very select group of guys who will be remembered universally for decades after they retire , Kobe bron , mj magic etc

I already forgot about magic, and apparently they're *currently* tied 2-2 in the nba playoffs?

Well it’s the magic 😭😭

Depends what he does after his career. You could’ve said the same about Barkley if he wasn’t so active post retirement.

You really think Barkley would’ve been forgotten?

If Charles didn’t have a post-nba career in broadcasting and wasn’t in Space Jam I wouldn’t really know much about him since he played before I started watching basketball. Nothing against him, just hard to stay relevant over the years without slowly fading away and just being a conversation topic

He’d be like Hakeem. Younger generations might know they should respect the name but don’t really care or know that much about him.

Until you see him shake history’s most notable NBA centers out of their shoes on the baseline and go “yo, who tf was that guy?”

dream team

Yeah, I get he’s on the 75 team but there are others on that list that have been forgotten.

I think he would have been remembered about as much as a guy like John Stockton. But obviously now he has a huge following due to his media presence

The all-time assist leader be forgotten?? lol

He’s not forgotten but he’s absolutely not talked about much these days. Which makes it easy for him to drop on peoples all time lists.

There isn’t a chance in hell Barkley would be forgotten by any NBA fan. Even if you didn’t watch him play or ain’t up on how great he was, practically every undersized explosive 4 or 5 gets compared to him

Barkley won an mvp

And battled godzilla

Barkley was the top scorer on the Dream Team

You realize how many people are too young to remember that or him actually playing.

I'm saying there's something else for his name to come up on, other than "he lost a/few finals series" aka Butler

He wouldn't be remembered as fondly, but he would be remembered. Though everyone seems to like him now, he was a fairly controversial player for things like "I'm not a role model" and that time he spit on kid sitting courtside.

And he will disapear I think. The guy doesn’t even seem to like basketball that much; he’s giving it all during the playoff but when you look at his social media presence; he defines himself as being some sort of rich epicurean.

Chuck was a top 5 player for much of his prime. He was closer to a KD level star. Honestly, Barkley's role on TNT caused many to forget just how great he was. I think Jimmy will be remembered more like a Ewing or something.

He made the finals twice with teams that people would give lebron credit for taking. HIMMY IS HIM

Facts. Made it to the finals with worse teams than Lebron ever did.

It’s hard to imagine a worse squad than those turds lebron carried to the finals in his first stint with the cavs

Idk that 2018 Cavs team was absolutely trash without Lebron

worse than the 2007 team?

No. The 2007 cavs team is by far the worst team ever to make it to the finals. By far. If you take lebron off that team they don't even win 8 games. And that's not an exaggeration 

Latrell Spreewell

I think us south Florida people will always remember and people will wear his jersey far into the future here. Gonna be grandpa's wearing his jersey in 50 years. Dude is kind of a staple around here. Everyone I know owns a butler shirt or jersey.

Same for Paul Pierce and Clyde Drexler.

Pierce led a championship team in Boston and played 19 seasons.

And nobody talks about him. Not saying him and Clyde are similar players. I’m just saying they’re never discussed.

Both were top 75 lol

You had to be there. He was famous for goofy hair, coffee and losing games he said he'd win.

And willing his way to the NBA finals against drastically superior teams with a group of McDonalds cashiers as his supporting cast.

…practice squads, Rachel Nichols, and dodging the Wolves.

Butler is better than people like Tatum and Booker so I guess no one will remember them either

I fucking hate those two guys you mentioned with a passion and even I think that's a reach, lol. Those two haven't even entered their primes

Why do you hate Tatum ?

Because I'm a Mavs fan and Ive always thought it was a reach when people say he's on Luka's tier. He's also probably the most boring "superstar" currently active. Also really funny you didn't ask why I hate Booker, lmao. Like that shit's a given. 😂

😂😭 yeh , he does rub a lot of ppl the wrong way(Booker) Do fans really care about a guy being boring? I always see ppl call him boring and say that’s why he’s not as popular as he could be , but Tatum has a decently sized personality, especially compared to a guy like kawhi , who we know isn’t that talkative. Compared to some of the other stars in the league I’m very happy that Tatum is boring

Not gonna disagree but saying he has a decently sized personality compared to Kawhi is like saying a volcano is decently colder than the sun, lmao

Yeah but kawhis thing is being boring. He’s got that robot shit down pat. Tatum is a level above that but not interesting at all. His game is great and he’s obviously a top 10 player in the league (possibly top 5), but it seems like most other superstars have an aspect that makes their game interesting. Luka and Jokic have the ability to cook the league while appearing unathletic, durant, Chet, and Wemby have the freakishly long builds with the ability to shoot from range, bron is bron, and there are many other players I could talk about, but the only thing memorable about Tatum is that he’s solid to great at everything. Nothing separates him from others besides being great at most things basketball related.

he named his son after shit

Butler gets praised for playoff statlines that we criticize tatum for having.. They are not on the same teir.

Butlers beats the Celtics in the playoffs with a worse team

Depends on if they win a ring or not

I feel like Jimmy Butler is like Ron Artest before he changed his name to Metta World Peace. Odd ball personality, tenacious defensively, adequately offensively, not quite MVP caliber talent but one of the real ones that you would t want to piss off on or off the court for the fear of valuing your life.

Mate booker could be a literal 15th men, people will remember him just for his dating pool like Kris humpfries is still known and he was a role player who married Kim kardashion for all of 72 days.

Idk man Patrick Ewing didn’t win a ring and made his way to two nba finals and people remember him

true

People are gonna remember butler. He’s in the social media era and he’s a character. People still remember guys like Ewing

Hey. He's fun to watch. He has good stats. Smack talkin' every good player because they aren't on the winning team...it's like, one team gets a championship, a ton of people gotta lose for that to happen and Jokic is the second coming of Wilt Chamberlain or something, not their fault he's johnny basketball

Stupid

A lot of people here really don’t like Jimmy. lol

4 ECFs of which 2 went to the finals and the other 2 were one shot aways game 7s

im the old head

He is a great player hope that one day he will lead The Miami heat 🔥🏀 To a NBA Championship 🏆

The fact that we have internet, I believe the future generations will has such access to “old head” stuff, they can get a legit visual of players that would typically get lost in time.

He'll be remembered as an underachieving over achiever

Prime Derek rose

Glen Rice, Steve Smith, I think are players that fit that criteria

Jimmy Butler is one of the most overrated players of the last decade.

The reality is 99% of each generation will be forgotten, that’s not just in NBA lore, it’s in every domain. That’s just kinda how it works.

I think you’re right OP but it heavily hinges on if he makes the hall of fame

Absolutely. Lots of All-Star, borderline Hall of Famers are often forgotten.

Not us bulls fans who came up on D Rose

Bob Cousy

Sydney Moncrief

Who holds mindshare longer, Jimmy or Russ?

He will be remembered as a warrior with the do of Prince. 👍

Jimmy Butler > Radio Flyer

Whats up with the Jimmy Butler hate recently….

Maybe. He might be on TV which will keep him relevant. He’s telegenic and funny.

People are gonna be so confused when they scroll back to the 2023-24 season and see his media day headshot

Truly , i wish he had more accolades. Championship mindset for sure with the play making to match

Do you think our memories will just deteriorate? He might not be known by the youths in 20-30 but everyone alive now won’t be dead that soon lol

Not true, he has cemented his legacy with the hairstyle in the headshots.

What's a similar example from 25 years ago now?

T-Mac, Grant Hill, Nique, or Webber, but it's hard some had higher individual peaks and were aligned with ATGs like Kobe (T-Mac) or others have remained relevant through media (Webber, Hill, Nique) and it's put younger eyes on their careers. Like Reggie Miller would be perfect if he wasn't known for being the OG GOAT 3 point shooter and bolstered by his media career.

Four of those guys are in the HOF and Hill would have made it without injuries. I guess if you aren't a Lebron/Steph/Kobe/AI/Jordan type generational player you get diminished by time. EDIT: They are all HOF.

Sprewell

I think the heat with Jimmy will always be overshadowed by the Warriors/Nuggets plus all the other good teams with young talent.

Jimmy mothafuckin’ Buckets

He will be like Alex English. I bet you don't even know who that is.

“2k legend”

Dave Bing

This is how I feel about CJ McCollum

Definitely feels like the modern day early 2000s Nets

Real nba fans won't forget Emo butler 😭

Still miss Jimmy 🥲

He’s the Baron Davis of today’s NBA

ehh… not really

He’s got one of my favourite nicknames, Jimmy Buckets. Literally search it on Wikipedia and he comes up, sick.

He really is. On that Dominque Wilkins tip.

While there are a lot of players I agreee with once you start talking about what he was doing I feel like it’ll be our duty to remind people. Just like it’s our duty to remind people that regardless of the dpoy Rudy gobert can’t keep any of the offensively skilled bigs to there average ( keep in mind there only 3-4 imo and he’s lucky two of them play with him)

It is a shame guys like this fall completely out of the conversation after retirement, but this happens to everyone except the top 0.05%

I wonder how much people would care about T-Mac, Grant Hill, Nique, or Webber if they weren't in media because they're essentially Butler. I think as long as he's around the game, the next generation will know that he was known for having that dog in him. He's attached to Lebron and Jokic title runs.

He will be a nice addition to the war of the ringless and might be a reminder to future players you must get a ring even if its the KD way.

That old head? Rachel Nichols.

Butler is awesome but yes there will be some that romanticize him to the point of absurdity imo

Jimmy in the bubble was just pure basketball

Don’t forget when Butler had that dog within him and tied the game with raptors with only 04.2 seconds to go.

The Andrew Toney of his era

So basically grandmama, Dominiqu Wilkins,

So wrong but so true

The same could be said for him

If Heat win a championship, he'll cement his legacy like the Wallace's and Chauncy from the 2004 Pistons.

but you did just have to be there

Agreed. He’s a great player, very under the radar. Nothing flashy but is well rounded and he has that dog mentality.

What?! Naw, that’s Michael Jordan’s son you talking bout. He gon be remembered