Jimmy Butler Offers Brutal Honesty About His Future With The Miami Heat

Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler is playing to win, not for money.

Oct 13, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) watches from the bench against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Jimmy Butler's motivation is not coming from earning a maximum contract extension from the Miami Heat, plain and simple.

All of the offseason chatter about Heat team president Pat Riley not paying Butler is not of concern to him. Instead, the 35-year-old is laser focused on making himself available for his teammates.

"I don't know, but I want to play as many games as possible," Butler shared. "I'll leave it at that. I don't need to put a number on the amount of games that I play. I know the more games I play, the more opportunities my squad has of winning. I do know that."

Butler's first effort to do so came by appearing in multiple preseason games against the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans. He did not appear at all in last year's preseason. Earning individual awards could increase the forward's chances of landing a lucrative extension, but the hardware means "nothing" to him.

"It means nothing to me at all," Butler said of the 65-appearance rule to win major awards. "If we're being brutally honest, no matter what nothing I do now is going to get me paid any more money, even though I don't care about the money. I'm at a point right now where I have more than enough money. I'm just here to win."

The Heat open the regular season on Oct. 23 against the Orlando Magic.

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Anthony Pasciolla works as a contributing writer to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at ampasciolla@gmail.com or follow him on X @AnthonyPasci.