Jrue Holiday says nobody could have stopped Jimmy Butler in their series: "There’s nothing that anybody could do."

Jrue says not even the great Michael Jordan could have stopped Jimmy Butler.

© Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday is widely considered to be one of the very best defenders in the entire NBA. A five-time member of the NBA’s All-Defense Team, the crafty veteran is strong enough to guard taller forwards and agile enough to stay in front of faster guards.

In the first round of the NBA Playoffs, Holiday was tasked with slowing down Miami Heat All-Star Jimmy Butler. The 6-foot-3 guard did all he could against the former Marquette star, but in the end, there was just little he could do to slow down the in-rhythm Butler, who led the Heat to a shocking upset of the title-favorite Bucks.

Nobody could stop Jimmy Butler at that point

In the last two games of the five-game series, Butler accumulated a whopping 98 points, highlighted by the career-high 56 points that he dropped in Game 4 to help the Heat take a commanding 3-1 series lead. He finished the series with astounding averages of 37.6 points on 59.7%shooting—including 44.4% from three)—6.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.8 steals

Holiday said that as good and competitive as he is as a defender, there was nothing he—or anyone else for that matter—could do at that point to slow Butler’s roll.

“A lot of plays Jimmy made, there was nothing that I could do. There’s nothing that anybody could do. It didn’t matter if it was Brook on him, if it was LeBron James or Michael Jordan on him. It didn’t matter who was on him. Jimmy was playing at a different level.”

Fun competing against Jimmy

The result was far from pleasant, of course, but the experience of battling another top-flight competitor was exhilarating for Jrue.

“How I look back on it now, it was fun. I play the game to go against the best players. I play defense to go up against the best players, no matter what position or however it may be. And Jimmy is the ultimate competitor,” shared Jrue.

Jrue Holiday admits he got his ‘ass busted’ by Jimmy Butler

“A lot of plays Jimmy made, there was nothing that I could do. There’s nothing that anybody could do. It didn’t matter if it was Brook on him, if it was LeBron James or Michael Jordan on him. It didn’t matter who was… pic.twitter.com/bf03cP7nex

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 25, 2023