Basketball is one of the most furious games when it comes to trash-talking. The players are in close proximity with one another, and tensions bound to arise between opposing team. When one is watching an NBA Finals match that includes the Lakers, one has to expect a few controversial moments with LeBron James in the fore.

In Game 3 of the finals, a Miami Heat star heard some sharp words from the Akron Hammer. In the post-game media conference, Jimmy Butler revealed that LeBron told him the Miami Heat is “in trouble”. 

LeBron James gave a closing statement on this recent hype

The three-time NBA Champion is one of those rare legendary figures who have seldom been part of any controversy. When this trash-talking comment began picking heat, reporters had to derive LeBron’s side of the story. So they did!

The L-Train gave his clarification when he detailed, “I’ve always been a guy who kind of let his game do the talking. But when guys get to talking, I can do that as well. I’ve always tried to let my game do the talking. Some guys like to talk their way through the basketball game. I think it helps them out, personally. There’s always communication going on on the floor. For me, personally, as long as it doesn’t get disrespectful, I’m fine with it. But I’ve never really started up a trash-talking dialogue. That’s just not me. I believe the way I play the game is enough trash-talking in itself.”

His second statement in his response signals that it may be Jimmy G. Buckets who might have started it. But this is where both the stars acted like two poles of a magnet. The Heat forward had earlier revealed, “Let’s not act like I’m just out here talking trash. LeBron said it to me at the end of the first. That’s what happened. I just said it to him in the fourth quarter.”

So it remains unclear as to who started it first.

Jimmy Butler used trash-talking to pick at his aggression against the Lakers!

The recently turned 31-YO Heat star had one helluva night as he scored a 40-point triple-double. He last had a 40-point playoff game against the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semi-finals. 

The man looked high on spirits and played tirelessly for 45 minutes in which he did it all but did not attempt a single three-pointer. He was a force from inside the paint and his defense was like reading material for his young side.

It’s not just the Lakers who will watch the tapes and try to make analytical sense of Butler’s game. His own squad would want to take this performance as a benchmark and step in Game 4 with equal aggression. The Tuesday match looks a promising one now with all these off-court exchanges of comments and mind games. However, who will win the championship ring remains anybody’s guess.