MIAMI – As the Miami Heat face the Golden State Warriors and Jimmy Butler on Tuesday night, there is no doubt much anticipation over the game for many obvious reasons. While Heat stars Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herr face Butler as their former teammate, the other reunion will be Andrew Wiggins with the rest of Golden State.
Heat's Andrew Wiggins excited to catch up with Warriors
While the focus has been around Butler since the blockbuster trade before the deadline, Wiggins was the main piece heading to Miami after spending six seasons with the Warriors resulting in many productive seasons. Now that they're in town, Wiggins would say after the win over the Charlotte Hornets that he will be “happy” to see his former team again.
“I love the people over there,” Wiggins said with a smile. “I had a great time, great organization, my teammates were great, the fans were great. Amazing time. I loved it over there. So I’m happy to see them again.”
Wiggins has played with the Heat for 13 games thus, missing a handful due to injury, but has shown major promise, especially in the win over Charlotte where he scored 42 points on 16 for 21 shooting from the field and six of eight from three-point range. The point total is the second-most in his career as if there is one person from his former team happy to see him, it will be head coach Steve Kerr who expressed his excitement per 95.7 The Game radio station.
“We can’t wait to see him [Wiggins] tomorrow, and hopefully, he doesn’t give us 42 [points], but I root for that guy, and I will for the rest of his career… Everybody loves Wiggs,” Kerr said. “Just an incredible human being, and we miss him around here.”
Heat and Jimmy Butler reuniting after a messy breakup
While Andrew Wiggins looks to keep his hot streak with the Heat against the Warriors which more than likely left on good terms, the same can't be said for Butler and Miami. With the situation behind them and Butler succeeding so far with his new squad, there is a bad taste left in the mouths of both parties and fans of the franchise.
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Still, ClutchPoints confirmed Monday that the team will have a tribute video for Butler who led the team to two NBA Finals appearances and made a major impact on the Heat. While Butler will watch, it made “no difference” either way if there wasn't one according to a video from Anthony Slater.
“Will I watch?” Butler said after Warriors practice in Miami on Monday. “Yeah, I’ll watch. If they have one, if they don’t. It makes no difference. It really doesn’t.”
Butler would then downplay the emotions he'll have about facing his former team.
“This is basketball. This is very simple,” Butler said of facing his former team. “I don’t have all the emotions that everybody thinks I’m going to have. Like, it is what it is. I realize that I had some great years here and I’ve built some incredible bonds with some individuals in the organization, in the city, in the state of Florida.”
“But I’m going there to hoop, I’m going there to play basketball. Ain’t nothing nobody says, nothing nobody does that’s going to get me out of character. Nobody got me out of character when I was going through what I was going through this entire season with the suspensions. It’s just another day for me.”
At any rate, Miami looks to win two straight as they're currently 30-41 which puts them 10th in the Eastern Conference before Tuesday against Golden State.
