Jimmy Butler’s wild bench blow-up is good for the Sixers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Former Sixers star Jimmy Butler got into a verbal altercation with Miami Heat head coach Eric Spoelstra and quasi-Heat coach/pretend player Udonis Haslem on the bench in Miami on Wednesday night.
Clips of the argument immediately went viral on Twitter and elsewhere on the internet, with lip-reading experts breaking down the interaction and basketball fans examining what it all means for the Eastern Conference-leading squad.
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Here’s the best view, from a fan sitting behind the Miami bench:
SPICY. AS. HELL.
Spoelstra asking Butler, “What do you want me to do, fight you?” and Haslem telling Butler “I’ll beat your a**” are not exactly what you’re looking for with the playoffs a few weeks away!
Here’s an alternate angle from our friends at NBC Sports Bay Area:
Totally crazy.
Spoelstra tried to spin it after the game into something about having a ton of competitiveness in the team’s locker room, blah blah blah.
Don’t let the “Heat Culture” dorks lie to you: this is not what you want your team to look like.
This is, however, classic Butler stuff. I’m not sure what he said to Spoelstra and Haslem to get those kinds of reactions, but it couldn’t have been something terribly mild. Those aren’t two guys who lose their cool over nothing.
Miami has lost two straight games to undermanned opponents and are 3-4 in their last seven. The Sixers are now just 1.5 games behind the Heat, who still hold first place in the East – for now. It’s been a rocky stretch for Butler’s team, and his rough shooting hasn’t been helping anyone: Butler is shooting 43% from the field and 15% from three since the start of February.
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Do the Sixers want the No. 1 seed? You have to imagine they do. If everyone fears the Nets (and I agree that the Sixers probably don’t want to face the Nets in the first round) nabbing the top seed would probably help you avoid them for a while assuming they win the play-in tournament.
Which means the Heat blowing up on the bench in front of cameras is nothing but sweet, sweet music to Sixers fans’ ears.
