Miami sports fans don’t exactly have the best reputation when it comes to fanbases nationwide. And Heat fans found themselves in the crosshairs once again as ESPN’s Bobby Marks called them out for cheering the returning Jimmy Butler for the visit of the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
Butler was sensational during his years in Miami, leading the Heat to two surprise runs to the NBA Finals with his incredible clutch play in the postseason. But with the Heat failing to recapture that success, he forced his way out this season after several run-ins with management and multiple suspensions. The drama finally ended when he was traded to the Golden State Warriors. And unfortunately for the Heat franchise, the trade has sent the two teams in opposite directions with Golden State looking like a true contender once again out west and Miami plummeting to the #10 seed in the east.
But at least for one night on Tuesday, those fortunes were reversed as the Heat beat the Warriors in Jimmy Butler’s return to Miami in a 112-86 blowout. But it wasn’t the result that caught the attention of ESPN’s Bobby Marks on Get Up Wednesday morning, it was the reaction of Miami Heat fans who cheered Butler in his South Beach return.
Marks said the Miami Heat fans who cheered Jimmy Butler should be embarrassed.
“I want to be careful how I say this because I do have to fly home to Florida today. I don’t want them not allowing me in the state,” Marks said. “I was embarrassed last night, I was embarrassed watching that and looking at what the Heat fans did. To give a man who quit on you, he quit on them in the middle of the year, he quit on them because he didn’t get paid by the Miami Heat. I know he took them to two NBA Finals and everything he did great for you, but to give that man a standing ovation, even if it was 50% of that, that bothered me dearly.
“It really did. I would have done the video tribute. I still would have done that from the Heat organization. And Steve Kerr said it after, basically, it was almost like fair weather fans who are like ‘well, it’s ok, you know, guy quit on you in the middle of the year, you know, he went to Golden State, he got his money, he got his $111 million, and now this is what we’re left with.’ And before tonight, the reality was the Miami Heat were a nondescript vanilla team with no identity,” Marks continued.
During last year’s play-in tournament, ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins called out Heat fans for there being so many empty seats for their matchup with the Chicago Bulls. Michael Wilbon took it even further by saying that it wasn’t a great fanbase and that Heat fans were frontrunners. Cheering the guy who quit on their team and forcing his way to a contender in one of the ugliest ways possible probably isn’t going to do much to change that reputation.
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