Draymond Green "Confused" By Miami Heat Fan Base Regarding Jimmy Butler Situation

Bryan Townes | Mar 30, 2025

Mar 28, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) looks to pass the ball against New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Jimmy Butler didn’t get revenge in his return against the Miami Heat in a 26-point loss to the Golden State Warriors earlier this month.

The Warriors have thrived since Butler arrived. Draymond Green and Warriors fans have enjoyed Butler making them contenders again. It left Heat fans feeling betrayed because many feel Butler quit the team during the season. Adjusting to his absence led to a 4-17 stretch and a 10-game losing streak, which is the longest since 2008.

Green addressed the disgruntled fans on his podcast recently.

“To me, it sounded like their crowd was a little confused,” Green said. “It sounded like they felt like they were supposed to be booing Jimmy, but it was so much love there. It wasn’t quite the amount of boos that you thought with how the whole situation played out there would be. But quite honestly, I don’t think there should have been a million boos. At the end of the day, Jimmy had an opportunity to leave in free agency or go into free agency, and he decided to sign an extension with the team. Every year, people continued to ask, ‘They’re going to bring in Damian Lillard?’ ‘They’re going to bring in Giannis Antetokounmpo?’ to double down and help Jimmy take this team to a championship, and that never happened.”

HISTORIC GAME SHOULD CLINCH BIG-TIME HONOR FOR MIAMI HEAT’S KEL’EL WARE

Through a roller coaster regular season, Miami Heat’s Kel’el Ware has been one of their main bright spots.

Despite sitting out the beginning half of the year, Ware has been very productive as the Heat’s starting center. Over the last eight games, he’s averaging 13.1 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks on 68.3 percent shooting and 29.1 percent from three-point range.

Against the Philadelphia 76ers, Ware made history, becoming the third rookie ever to finish with a double-double without any missed shots or turnovers. While playing essentially perfectly as he did against them isn’t realistic, his potential has been on display for how impactful he will be to the Heat’s future.

With a 111.2 offensive rating, Ware ranks ninth among rookies this season. Compared to other notable veterans such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert, his play has garnered him as much praise as of late. According to Heat insider Barry Jackson, Ware has reached the top 20 in the league in both blocks and rebounds, surpassing both. If he continues to play at this level, Ware will almost be a lock for a First-Team All-Rookie selection.

MIAMI HEAT’S ERIK SPOELSTRA “DISAPPOINTED” IN LATEST NBA COACH FIRING

There have only been a few head coaches in NBA history who guaranteed their job position.

Unfortunately, the Memphis Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins after six seasons on Mar. 28. He led them to the postseason three times, but only reached the second round once. It wasn’t always Jenkins’ fault, as their stars Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. constantly dealt with injuries or Morant’s 25-game suspension.

The Grizzlies' schedule for the remainder of the regular season is the ninth most difficult in the league. They thought it was time for a change because of their struggles against teams with winning records despite being fifth in the Western Conference.

Jenkins was the fifth-longest tenured coach in the league, with the four ahead of him all winning championships. He passed Lionel Hollins and will finish his tenure with the most wins in franchise history. Assistant coach Tuomas Lisalo will replace him as the interim coach for the remainder of the year.

Erik Spoelstra shared his thoughts regarding Jenkins’ dismissal and how disappointing it is in this profession to have job security.

“It’s incredibly disappointing,” Spoelstra said. “This profession is tough, and you want to be in it together, through the good and the bad, and not looking for the easy escape route to point blame. His record speaks for itself.”

Bryan Townes is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at btownesjr@gmail.com or on X @bryantownesjr11. Follow our coverage on Facebook