Contrary to what most might think, Jimmy Butler just showed he isn’t holding on to ‘resentment’ towards his former teammate. The former Miami Heat star provided a candid response regarding Bam Adebayo’s historic 83-point explosion earlier this year. He praised his ex-teammate while maintaining his trademark blunt perspective and simultaneously squashing assumptions of animosity between them.

Amid his offseason recovery from a torn ACL, sustained while playing against the Miami Heat in January, he appeared on SiriusXM NBA Radio ahead of the 2026–27 season. It’s long overdue, but he was asked about Adebayo surpassing Kobe Bryant’s single-game scoring record. Butler brushed aside lingering speculation about personal friction with Miami’s front office and remaining roster, tipping his cap to Adebayo’s record-shattering scoring display against the Washington Wizards.

“Good for him. 83 is a lot of points, and he is a crazy, talented player. He can do everything incredibly well,” Butler stated during his interview. “But it’s always a team effort. Nobody just gets scored 83 on. It’s a team thing, you know, you’re sending double teams. Double teams, triple teams, whatever. The whole, whatever you call it, shebang, the whole team, the whole book, whatever. And he made shots, a lot of them. So good for him. 83 is historic.”

When pressed on whether any opposing player could ever drop an 83-point performance on him directly, Butler joked, “You’re not going to score 83. You might score like 80.”

Butler’s comments quickly went viral on social media, sparking intense debate among NBA fans about his dynamic with Adebayo and former Heat guard Tyler Herro.

According to Heat insider Barry Jackson, internal friction brewed over the organization’s willingness to grant Adebayo lucrative extensions while shielding him completely from trade discussions, a level of organizational protection not fully extended to Butler or Herro.

“What we can tell you is that there has been some level of resentment from multiple former Heat players that Bam was the chosen one here and was given a big-money contract extension by the Heat and was never subjected to trade rumors,” Jackson reported.

NBA insider Marc Stein echoed that sentiment in his own report, stating, “He is Heat royalty for Micky Arison, Nick Arison, Pat Riley. He is the modern-day Udonis Haslem. They consider him the absolute franchise pillar… He is the untouchable there. That part is for sure. He is an extension of Pat Riley, Spo, Ownership.”

That deep-rooted organizational trust was the background of the recent turmoil that enveloped Miami’s roster right before the franchise reshaped its core around Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo. After extension talks broke down and Butler declared he had ‘lost his joy’ in Miami, he was traded to the Golden State Warriors in 2025.

A year later, Adebayo’s 83-point masterpiece occurred on March 10, 2026, in a 150–129 victory over the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center. The 6’9 center shot 20-of-43 from the field and converted an NBA-record 36 free throws on 43 attempts across 42 minutes of action.

The performance marked the second-highest single-game scoring total in NBA history, surpassing Kobe Bryant’s 81-point performance from 2006 and trailing only Wilt Chamberlain’s legendary 100-point game.

At that time, Butler had been away from the court for at least two months and was a month removed from surgery. His public appearances were few and far between in response to the event.

As Adebayo prepares to anchor Miami’s new-look rotation alongside Antetokounmpo and Klay Thompson, Butler remains focused on his own recovery from a torn ACL and returning to the Golden State Warriors, leaving their shared chapter in South Florida officially in the past.