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Miami Heat superstar forward Jimmy Butler has been one of the most dominant players in the 2023 NBA playoffs. This has become a trend for Butler, who is one of the rare players who takes his game to another level come the postseason. However, despite his success over his 12-year career, Butler struggled to get his own signature shoe.
After being drafted No. 30 by the Chicago Bulls in the 2011 NBA draft, Butler signed a deal with Adidas. He stayed with the company for three years before signing with Jordan Brand before the 2014-15 NBA season. Butler wanted to sign with Jordan Brand so badly that he reportedly took a 75% pay cut to secure a deal with the company. Butler explained his decision in an interview with GQ in 2015:
“It's not about the money,” Butler said.
“I do it because I love the game, for one. I think Mike takes care of his players. He's always saying how this is a Jordan family. Everybody's so cool to hang around, and you get a lot of respect, within that Jordan brand, to each and every individual, because you're significantly really good at your particular sport. So, I think it was an easy choice, moving on to Jordan.”
After signing with Jordan Brand, Butler began his ascension to stardom, making his deal a bargain for the company. During his time with the company, Butler rocked many different Jordan Brand sneakers. However, Butler never got his own signature Jordan Brand shoe before leaving the company in 2020.
In 2020, Butler signed a significant multi-year shoe deal with Li-Ning, the popular Chinese sportswear company. Butler’s deal came after the Heat unexpectedly made the 2020 NBA Finals, which raised his profile. Butler was later given his own signature shoe with the company in 2022, called the “Li-Ning JB 1.” Butler has been wearing these shoes throughout this year’s playoffs.
Jimmy Butler's 2023 NBA playoff stats so far
Most would agree that Jimmy Butler has certainly played like an athlete worthy of having his own signature shoe during the 2023 NBA playoffs. This comes as Butler is averaging 31.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game on 52.2% shooting through 11 playoff games. This is a massive increase from the 22.9 ppg he averaged during the regular season.
In addition, the eighth-seeded Miami Heat are 9-2 with Butler in this year’s playoffs. This includes Miami currently being up 1-0 on the second-seeded Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals after stealing Wednesday’s Game 1 123-116 in Boston.
Game 2 between the Heat and Celtics will take place on Friday in Boston.
