All-Star Jimmy Butler Calls Heat Forward ‘Dumbest’ Player Ever [VIDEO]

Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler is known for giving the most brutally honest statements during postgame press conferences, but considering the team is 5-1 heading into November, there’s a higher level of cockiness to his recent comments.

Following the Heat’s dominant 114-99 win over the Charlotte Hornets, the five-time All-Star was clearly enjoying himself while speaking to the media, discussing the IQs of his fellow teammates, especially that of sharpshooter Duncan Robinson.

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“I mean, I’ve played with some pretty smart players before,” Butler said. “I think Duncan’s the dumbest one out of all of ’em.” The 32-year-old small forward said this with a straight face, making it unclear as to whether or not Butler was joking.

“We’ve had some smart guys. I’ve been around some really, Hall of Famers, really great players, but definitely helps whenever you’ve got guys that are extremely smart and know the game, except for Duncan. He dumb.”

After the reporter thanked Butler for his response, the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Week took yet another jab toward Robinson, but with a smirk on his face which confirmed his comments were in jest. “Duncan, you dumb,” Butlers said, before exiting the presser.

It should be noted that before Robinson transferred to Michigan, he started his college career at Williams College, which Forbes ranked as the second-best liberal arts college in the nation in 2021, and the No. 18 best overall university in the country.

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Robinson Didn’t Exactly Appreciate Butler’s Comments

Robinson did not hear about Butler’s postgame comments until the next day, nor did he find his teammates’ jokes all that funny, per Sun Sentinel‘s Ira Winderman.

“I’ve been like tuning everything out,” Robinson said. “I just heard before the game what Jimmy said yesterday, confronted him about it. I obviously don’t agree. But Jimmy’s going to be Jimmy.”

Robinson, however, did say that last comment with a smile. “I know that it’s all love, that sometimes it can maybe not feel that way, but it is,” he added. “But I know that Jimmy has my back at the end of the day and I know a lot of these guys have my back and I hope they know that I have theirs. It’s about being there for each other.”

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Robinson Had His Best Game of the Season Following Butler’s Jokes

Robinson started all six games for the Heat this season, but his scoring output has not been what most people expected from one of the NBA’s best three-point shooters.

During the first five games, the 27-year-old forward, who signed a five-year, $90 million contract extension with the Heat this summer, was only shooting 27.9% on threes. On the very next night following Butler’s jokes, Robinson turned up. He drilled 5-of-10 on threes during the Heat’s dominant 129-103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

“I never was concerned,” Heat head coach Spoelstra said of Robinson’s brief slump. “As a shooter, you’re going to go through these stretches of the season and there will be a few of them in the season.”

As for Robinson, “You’re going to have stretches when you’re shooting the ball well and you’re going to have stretches when you’re shooting the ball poorly. So just trying to weather the storm in some respects. Just continue to push. Hopefully, this will be a breakthrough moving forward. But no guarantees, obviously.”

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