Bumblebee crashes Jimmy Butler's Eastern Conference Finals press conference
Jimmy Butler had just wrapped up another top-notch performance to help the Miami Heat avoid the first 3-0 collapse in NBA history and advance to the NBA Finals. How did Mother Nature reward him in his postgame press conference? She invited a big bumblebee in with the press to keep him on his toes.
Butler’s reaction is a more than fair response considering it surprised him mid-answer. He was able to get back to the media but, in the moment, the bee was the only thing getting his attention.
“Oh my god! Y’all saw that?,” asked an uneasy Butler. “(A) godd*** bumblebee.”
Butler led Miami to a 103-84 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last night. It was the Heat’s third win inside of TD Garden in the series.
In the victory, Butler put up 28 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals in 43 minutes. That brought his averages for the series up to 24.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 2.6 steals. Those numbers helped him narrowly win the ‘Larry Bird ECF MVP’ Trophy over his teammate in Caleb Martin.
Butler and Miami will now head to Denver to get things tipped off in the NBA Finals on Thursday. The least that he can hope for, though, is that the bee didn’t get on their plane in Boston to come with them across the country to the Mile High City.
LeBron James posts cryptic message amid retirement decision
LeBron James posted a cryptic message amid his retirement speculation. The Los Angeles Lakers said he had a lot to think about when it came to his future.
Despite the fact that he’s expected to return to the Lakers next season, it didn’t stop James from getting mysterious on Instagram. What athlete hasn’t done something like this at some point?
On Monday, James took to his Instagram Story with a lyric from Jay-Z’s “What More Can I Say.”
“I’m suppose to be #1 on everybody list,” James wrote. “We’ll see what happens when I no longer exist.”
James, 38, flirted with the idea of retirement immediately following Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals in which the Denver Nuggets finished off a sweep of the Lakers.
“Going forward with the game of basketball, I’ve got a lot to think about,” James told reporters.
James is under contract for the 2023-24 campaign as part of the two-year, $97 million deal he signed last August. He has a player option for the following season worth $50.4 million.
The four-time NBA champion and 19-time All-Star had one of his best seasons to date in 2022-23. In 55 games this regular season, James finished with 28.9 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, 6.8 assists per game, and shot 50% from the floor as well as 32.1% from three-point range.