Inside The Heat

Soccer Star Neymar Once Again Shows He's Committed To Team Jimmy Butler

Shandel Richardson

Mar 29, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) and Brazilian professional soccer player Neymar Jr. meet after the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 29, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) and Brazilian professional soccer player Neymar Jr. meet after the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
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Since joining the Miami Heat in 2018, forward Jimmy Butler has developed a strong friendship with soccer star Neymar.

Neymar proved this recently by posting a photo on Instagram of him wearing a Butler T-shirt

The caption read: "Jimmy TEAM."

Butler then replied: "só uma criança de Santos" in Portuguese or just a child of saints.

Butler has been relatively quiet the past few weeks. July 7 is the first day he can sign an extension with the Heat. If not done by June 30, 2025, he becomes a free agent.

Both sides have said they want to remain together. Butler's tenure in Miami has been a success for the most part. He's led the Heat to the NBA Finals twice and lost once in the Eastern Conference finals.

Still, the team has yet to reach its peak during the Butler era. They lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in 2020. In 2023, they fell in five games to the Denver Nuggets.

The Heat are still confident in Butler because injuries have played a factor in their failures. They were without guard Tyler Herro in the loss to the Nuggets. The Heat to the eventual champion Boston Celtics in the first round last season but were minus Butler and guard Terry Rozier. Both were sidelined with injuries.

Butler turns 35 in September so time is becoming a factor.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Inside The Heat. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here