Jimmy Butler says his T.J. Warren conflict is ‘dead,’ but should we really believe him?

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Jimmy Butler is the same Miami Heat star known for blowing up a Minnesota Timberwolves practice to force a trade. He’s the same Butler who used his quarantine time in Disney World to hold a solo workout in his room that got security to come because of noise complaints.

And yes, he’s the same Butler who not only got into it on the court with Indiana Pacers wing T.J. Warren, but who blew Warren kisses when he got ejected, called him “trash” to reporters AND took to Instagram to call him out.

In their next meetup, there were no melees, but Butler did post a video of himself dancing on Instagram after the forward completely shut down Warren.

Now, there was this quote from Sunday’s meeting with reporters:

Jimmy Butler on matchup vs. T.J. Warren: "Look, I just play basketball. I'm going to go out there and be the best player on the floor. That's what Miami has me here to do. I'm not worried about nobody's matchup. We can kill that. That's dead. That's something of the past."

— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) August 16, 2020

Here’s the thing: do we REALLY believe that, given what we know?

I’m not saying he’s about to spend the first-round series against the Pacers pushing Warren’s buttons on every single possession. But in a funny way, saying their rivalry is “dead” and “something of the past” could be subtly irritating if you’re Warren. If it was so dead, why did Butler post his “mood” on Instagram after the win?

Here’s what we know for sure: if the Pacers want any chance of taking down the surprising Heat, Warren has to be the X-factor behind Victor Oladipo (he doesn’t quite seem 100 percent as he continues to come back from surgery) and Malcolm Brogdon. And Butler’s probably going to spend the series locked on to his small forward counterpart.

In other words, this whole thing isn’t dead yet, and Butler already has the upper hand both on the court and off it.

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