Jimmy Butler was an easy get for NBA Finals-bound Heat

 It was June 30, 2019. Miami Heat had an evening all planned out for ir recruitment of free nt Jimmy Butler, down to every detail. y greeted him with music from Irish singer Dermot Kennedy, one of his favorites. A buffet dinner was set up, tables overlooking water of Biscayne Bay. y had players-turned-executives Shane Battier and Alonzo Mourning re to talk about what it’s like to be part of Heat.

And n it was time to go inside, break into a smaller group, get down to business and give him sales pitch. Butler never let Heat President Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra even get started. re was need. He’d already picked Miami. He just hadn’t told m yet.

“I was like, ‘I’m home,’” Butler said.

machinations of a sign-and-trade followed before things could be official, but just like that, Heat had a new star and newfound hope. Season 1 of Butler era in Miami will end on a st that he’s never been before — NBA Finals. Heat are Eastern Conference champions and play West champ Los Angeles Lakers in a title series that starts Wednesday night.

“To be able to get somebody like Jimmy Butler was one of most amazing recruiting visits we’ve ever had,” Spoelstra said. “Last June, it was so conversational, and you just felt like after 20 minutes that we were so aligned in how we viewed competition and work and culture, everything. We never even got into a pitch with him. We really just had dinner.”

Butler was Miami’s leading scorer in regular season, made All-NBA team and is averaging 20.7 points through first 15 games of this postseason — 0.2 behind Goran Dragic for team lead, which couldn’t be of less consequence to Butler. He doesn’t just tell teammates that he doesn’t care about getting credit for things. He demands y claim credit, want credit, step up and take big shots.

“He came in and bought into system,” said Heat center Bam Adebayo, who led way in East-clinching Game 6 win over Boston on Sunday night with 32 points and 14 rebounds. “He didn’t care if he scored. You kw, you’ve got to think about that. A lot of max players, y don’t have ball, y get upset. I appreciate Jimmy because at end of day, we feed off each or.”

Butler is, for lack of a better word, difficult. He’s headstrong. He’s driven. He likes things his way. Heat have t, and will t, try to change that. He fits perfectly into what Spoelstra’s calls franchise’s DNA, its fabric, its mantra of t apologizing for who and what Heat are and what program that Riley built stands for. With some teams, Butler hasn’t been an ideal fit. With Miami, biggest problem Spoelstra has had with Butler is when he was luring teammates to gym too early for workouts; turns out, even for hard-work-loving Heat, a 3:30 a.m. session before a training camp practice is frowned upon.

“But you want to run a practice and compete, Jimmy is going to make sure that that’s going to go to a different level,” Spoelstra said. “Because he can’t do anything without competing fiercely — and doing whatever it takes to win.”

Longtime Miami star Dwyane Wade is close with Butler, and Wade's retirement at end of last season left an obvious best-player-on--team void to be filled. He’d been filling Butler’s head for years with talk about how Heat way — “culture” that y love speaking of — was perfect fit for him. Wade is a Marquette guy, like Butler. y were teammates briefly in Chicago. Butler doesn’t trust many people. Wade has his trust.

Butler never doubted that Wade would be right. fit was perfect in Miami.

“What this whole thing comes down to is being wanted, being appreciated for what you bring to table,” Butler said. “And as I’ve said time and time again, as Spo constantly says, we’re t for everybody. I’m t for everybody, but here I am.”

Butler carried a “bad teammate” label in Minnesota. His stay in Philadelphia — sent re early last season — didn’t last long, and Heat convincing 76ers to do ir part in sign-and-trade that brought Butler to Miami after that waterside dinner was t difficult. (Finding or teams to help facilitate deal was, but Heat got it done.) In Miami, y laugh about tion that Butler is a locker-room problem.

Dragic and Butler will talk about soccer all day; Butler has even learned a little Slovenian, his point guard’s native langu, just to show him that he cares. Rookie guard Tyler Herro had a 37-point game earlier in East finals; Butler showed up for work next day wearing Herro’s high school jersey. Heat had a little party early Monday morning to celebrate making finals; Butler showed up for that in a University of Portland jersey bearing Spoelstra’s name on back and . 30 that he wore re as a guard 30 years ago.

This is what he wanted. NBA Finals are his reward.

“I always just wanted to win, do whatever it took to win,” Butler said. “body is taking it personally because we all have same nda. It’s t for stats. It’s t for fame. It’s t for ne of that. It’s to win a championship. My leadership style, it works here.”