Nate Robinson isn’t surprised Jimmy Butler led the Heat to NBA Finals

Nate Robinson is a big fan of Jimmy Butler, an appreciation that started back in Chicago. 

Now that he’s retired from the NBA, Nate Robinson is enjoying life sitting back and watching the next generation take over the league with some brilliant play. In fact, he’s spending some of his time on The Players’ Tribune’s show called Houesguest which premieres tonight at 7pm ET on Facebook and Instagram. It’s a perfect night to watch because there’s no NBA Finals action, which means Nate won’t be distracted by watching his former teammate try to pull off an incredible upset.

He’s of course a big fan of LeBron James, but the Seattle native has also been incredibly impressed with the play of Jimmy Butler.

The two were actually teammates back in Chicago during the 2012-13 campaign, Butler’s second pro season. Back then, Robinson saw a youngster with loads of potential.

Fast forward to 2020, and the man known as ‘Jimmy Buckets’ is most certainly living up to that potential everyone saw in him with the Miami Heat. Robinson included.

Jimmy Butler has found a great fit with the Miami Heat and has the Eastern Conference powers back in the NBA Finals

After spending the first six seasons of his career with Chicago, Butler had stops with the Timberwolves and 76ers before joining the Heat prior to this season. It’s been a tremendous fit in Miami for Butler, who averaged 19.9 points per game during the regular season and powered the team to its impressive run thus far in the postseason. It truly has come as no surprise to Robinson.

When the two were playing together in Chicago, Robinson said he pushed Butler to always work on his game, especially after practice. The two would work on their craft together, with Robinson taking the then young Butler under his wing to try and push him to get better.

“I told him, bro you’re a defensive guy, I see that, but you’re just as good as anybody on this team offensively,” Robinson said. “You’ve got to let it blossom and show the world. So we would play one-on-one every day after practice. I’d get in shots and he would come to the gym with me and we’d just play one-on-one and shoot every day. He just got better and better that whole year.”

And with Butler working overtime with Robinson, he really did start to see his game reach new levels.

“I told him we’re going to need you in the playoffs to score too, not just guard the guys like LeBron, D-Wade and all the tough assignments,” Robinson added. “We need you to go and get them on the offensive side as well. I think that year in Chicago, that’s when Jimmy kinda started blossoming more offensively that year in 2013. After that, now look at him, blossoming and becoming a two-way player.”

With Butler now playing at an elite level, the Heat are hoping to take down James and the Lakers in the NBA Finals. While they may be down 0-1 in the series early on, no one should count out Butler and Miami. Robinson will be the first to tell you that’d be a big mistake.