NEW YORK – For the third time in his four seasons with the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler has been named All-NBA. For the first time in those four seasons, the nod came on the second team, the first time the 33-year-old forward has finished higher than the third team.
With one of the most efficient seasons of his career, Butler was named All-NBA for the fifth time, with the results released Wednesday night from the 100-voter media balloting conducted before the start of the postseason.
Butler was named third-team All-NBA with the Heat in 2020 and ’21. He also was named third-team All-NBA in 2017 with the Chicago Bulls and in 2018 with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Butler becomes the fourth player to be named to at least three All-NBA teams while a member of the Heat, joining Dwyane Wade (eight times), LeBron James (all four of his Heat seasons) and Tim Hardaway (three times). Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning, both twice, are the only others in the franchise’s 35 seasons to be named All-NBA.
The only Heat players named first-team All-NBA have been James (four times), Wade (twice), O’Neal (twice) and Hardaway and Mourning (once apiece).
Butler during the regular season shot above 50 percent from the field for the first time in his career, closing at .539. He also shot .850 from the foul line, with 5.3 assists per game to just 1.6 turnovers.
“I think it’s been his best, most impactful year, even during the regular season,” coach Erik Spoelstra said Wednesday, ahead of his team’s Eastern Conference semifinal game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. “But I think you can also make a case in his four years with us, each year he’s gotten better, and more impactful. And that says a lot.
“He was already one of the best players on this planet before he even entered our building. But it’s a credit to his continued growth, how he’s played a different kind of role in four straight years for us. And that’s also not easy to do for a veteran player. You want to kind of stay in your comfort zone, usually. The first year, he basically played point guard for us. Second year, he played the four, even though he didn’t love that title. And last year a little bit more of his normal position at (small forward). This year it’s been one through four.”
It is another season, Spoelstra said, where the impact transcended statistics.
“And I’m glad he’s on our side,” Spoelstra said. “And I’m glad people are recognizing it’s not just about gaudy stats. It’s about impacting winning. He does that at a super-high level.”
Named first team Wednesday were Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Joining Butler on the second team were Stephen Curry, Donovan Mitchell, Nikola Jokic and Jaylen Brown.
Named to the third team were De’Aaron Fox, LeBron James, Damian Lillard, Julius Randle and Domantas Sabonis.
Starting next season, players must appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for the NBA’s annual awards. Butler appeared in 64 games this season.
On Tuesday, Heat center Bam Adebayo was named second-team All-Defensive, the team’s only player other than Butler to receive award recognition for 2022-23. The Heat were shut out in the voting for individual awards, with Butler runner-up to the Kings’ Fox for the NBA’s inaugural Clutch Player of the Year award.
Adebayo finished fifth in All-NBA voting at center, with nine third-team votes.
