Getty LeBron James with Jimmy Butler.
It was looking for a minute that the Miami Heat‘s season was pretty much finished but Jimmy Butler willed his team to a Game 3 win. Though they’re still down in the series to the Los Angeles Lakers, Butler was caught talking some trash and saying and saying “you’re in trouble” to LeBron James. The Lakers star isn’t the type to trash talk but he and Butler did get into it a little bit.
On Monday, LeBron had a chance to talk about his philosophy when it comes to trash talk:
No, I’ve always been a guy who kind of let his game do the talking. But when guys get to talking, I can do that, as well. I’ve always tried to let my game do the talking.
Some guys like to talk their way through the basketball game. I think it helps them out personally. There’s always communication going on on the floor. For me personally, as long as it doesn’t get disrespectful, I’m fine with it.
But I’ve never really started up a trash-talking dialogue. That’s just not me. I believe the way I play the game is enough trash talking in itself.
When you’re arguably the greatest player to ever play, trash-talking probably isn’t all that necessary. LeBron has definitely gotten heated before but he’s not the type to try to get under somebody’s skin with just words.
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LeBron Talks Bouncing Back After Loss
The Heat have every right to be feeling good after their big win. They were down 2-0 in the series and were missing two key players. Unfortunately for them, the Lakers have been really good after losses in these playoffs.
“We’re able to take a loss and understand why we lost,” LeBron said. “Understand things that we should have done better and things that we can apply to the next game to be better. We’re right back at that moment once again with the opportunity to be better than we were in the game before.”
The Lakers haven’t proven to be a team that tends to take their foot off the gas. They’ve had one lackluster game every series in this year’s playoffs. It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that it happened against the Heat. What would be a surprise is if Miami can pull off the upset for the second game in a row.
Can Jimmy Butler Keep up Elite Play?
Butler has been excellent all series and he’s cemented himself as one of the best players in the NBA. Game 3 against the Lakers was possibly his best game ever as he scored 40 points in route to a triple-double. He did that with a bum ankle.
While Butler has been amazing, it’s hard to imagine he can single-handedly beat the Lakers. With Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic missing time with injuries, there’s a lot of pressure on Butler to be perfect every night. Adebayo could be returning soon but even before he was hurt, he didn’t look like a difference-maker against the Lakers. If the Heat are going to pull off the historic upset, they’re going to Butler to keep playing out of his mind. Time will tell if he can make that happen.
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Lakers’ LeBron James Sounds off on Jimmy Butler’s Trash Talk