Jimmy Butler appears to be going through it right now.
The Miami Heat star Butler suffered a potentially season-ending injury in Wednesday’s play-in game against the Philadelphia 76ers. On a breakaway opportunity in the first quarter, Butler faked the shot and got 76ers guard Kelly Oubre up in the air. Though Butler succeeded in drawing the foul, he got tangled up with Oubre and fell awkwardly to the ground, twisting his right knee (video here).
On Thursday, it was revealed that Butler, who remarkably still played the final three quarters against the 76ers, suffered an MCL injury on the play. He has already been ruled out for Friday’s second play-in game against Chicago, and the timeline beyond that doesn’t sound encouraging either.
In an Instagram comment later in the day Thursday, Butler sent a sharp message to Oubre over the play.
“@kellyoubrejr we throwing hands,” Butler wrote.
Jimmy butler had some word for Kelly Oubre after he was diagnosed with a MCL Sprain 😭 pic.twitter.com/I3JLCNoRmd
— Bones🦴 (@Boness305) April 18, 2024
It is entirely possible that Butler was joking around there as he is known for his banter on social media and just generally being a troll. But it is unclear if he has that kind of relationship with Oubre, whom he was never teammates with and is not even his NBA contemporary (Butler entered the league many years before Oubre did).
In any case, there is probably some very real frusration on Butler’s part right now. He led the Heat on one of the greatest underdog playoff runs ever last season, bringing them to the NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed out of the play-in tournament (with countless memorable moments along the journey). But thanks to that MCL injury, it seems Butler’s season is now over before he even got a chance to play in a single playoff game this year.
