Miami Heat’s Erik Spoelstra Gets Very Blunt About Jimmy Butler Reunion

Sep 17, 2020; Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) talks with head coach Erik Spoelstra during the fourth quarter in game two of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2020 NBA Playoffs at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The Miami Heat won 106-101. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images

The Miami Heat’s Tuesday night matchup against the Golden State Warriors features the return of former superstar Jimmy Butler.

But honestly, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has been more focused on ending the team’s 10-game losing streak.

“The best thing about that is we’ve been so engulfed in our situation right now is that if I said, I haven’t really noticed the schedule,’ everybody would roll their eyes. But I literally haven’t really been able to check out the schedule,” Spoelstra said after Sunday’s victory over the Charlotte Hornets. “We’ve been trying to get a damn win. I was aware of it, but you stop really looking at it. That’s why the highest form of sanity is just to be in the present moment.”

Still, Spoelstra acknowledged the emotions likely to show in Butler’s reunion. Butler and the Heat achieved a level of success that the team hadn’t experienced since LeBron James’s tenure. Butler added a new legacy to his career, temporarily removing all the previous narratives about his character. Meanwhile, the Heat made two unexpected Finals appearances on three trips to the Eastern Conference.

“Obviously, there will be a lot of different feelings about it,” Spoelstra said. “I probably won’t express all of them, and that’s fair. We had a great five-year run. We didn’t win the title, but only one team does. We had some great moments here. We all get past that, that’s what you always remember. It doesn’t matter what every ‘feels’ right now.”

Jayden Armant is a graduate of the Howard University School of Communications and a contributor to Miami Heat on SI. He can be reached at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.

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