MIAMI — Jimmy Butler didn’t bother to take one look back in the direction of his old bench, his old mates, or that old floor that he set afire for many a spring night.
The emotion of Tuesday night, his return to Miami after an electric and combustible five-and-a-half-year run, was more muted than overwhelming. It wasn’t even smoldering.
“It was behind me a long time ago,” Butler said. “As soon as I ended up a Golden State Warrior, everything that went on was dead.”
There was life somewhere, and the Miami Heat found it — the game meant more to them than it seemed to Butler, as the two franchises have gone in opposite directions since the shocking deal was made over a month ago.