Jimmy Butler‘s heroics fell short Saturday. Afterward, he decompressed with one of the world’s most hated bands.
Butler had 38 points in 39 minutes against the Magic, hitting a ridiculously difficult three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
But the Heat got smacked around in the extra period and lost 126-114. Afterward, Butler was so upset that he blasted Nickelback.
From ESPN:
The sounds of Nickelback coming from the portable speaker inside the Miami Heat locker room were unmistakable. As the rest of his teammates and Heat staffers quietly showered, got dressed and picked over a postgame pizza spread following a 126-114 overtime loss to the Orlando Magic on Saturday, Jimmy Butler decided it was the the right time to pump up the volume on his stereo and blast the familiar sounds of Chad Kroeger’s voice.
Butler was clearly disappointed in his team, which has lost eight out of the last 12 games. What better way to express his frustration than with post-grunge Canadian rockers Nickelback, a band so hated that over 30,000 Lions fans signed a petition asking the team to replace the band as a halftime act.
Why would Butler chew out his teammates when he can make them feel much worse by singing every word to each song? There’s nothing he or coach Erik Spoelstra could say that is worse than hearing Kroeger’s lyrics.
Butler also got a technical for walking off the court and into the tunnel before the game was over, with Miami trailing by double digits in the final seconds.
He wasn’t apologetic afterward.
Obviously he doesn’t. He blasted Nickelback in an NBA locker room in 2023.
Miami seems locked in to the play-in, sitting 4.5 games out of sixth place and four games ahead of 10th. Meanwhile, Butler has been on fire, shooting 62.9 percent since the All-Star break and averaging 26.3 points per game. His teammates need to match Butler’s intensity.
This hot run is how Butler reminds his teammates of what he really is: an All-Star. And, apparently, a Nickelback superfan.
