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on April 25, 2023 in Explaining, Sports Leadership

A Historic Performance

On Monday, April 24, 2023, Jimmy Butler scored 56 points in the Miami Heat’s 119-114 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.  It was a historic performance which cemented Butler’s reputation as “Play-Off Jimmy.”  But what makes this performance so important to leaders is beyond the stat line.

The following are 9 leadership lessons from Jimmy Butler’s historic 56-point play-off performance I gleaned from this article written by The Athletic’s William Guillory.

Big Time Players Who Makes Big Time Plays In Big Time Games

Butler said, “I love the competitive aspect of (the playoffs).  I think this is where the best players show up and show out. I’m not saying I’m one of those best players. I just want to be looked at as such.  I want to do everything for my team to win, along with everybody else on this roster.  I think (team president Pat Riley) and (head coach Erik Spoelstra) wanted me here for a reason.  I feel like this is part of that reason.”

Butler is the complete antithesis of Pat Riley’s 7 Danger Signals Of The Disease Of Me.

Jimmy Butler Has A Track Record Of Success

One of the marks of great leadership is consistency.  The person has done something over and over again.  They can be trusted.

Butler led the Heat to the 2019-20 NBA Finals.  This was not a one-time event as he also led the team to the 2021-22 Eastern Conference Finals.  Over the course of those play-off runs, Butler averaged 24.6 points per game and had six games with 40 or more points.

The Quality of the Performance Is Often Determined By The Level Of Opposition Needed To Achieve It

What made Butler’s performance so remarkable was because of who he was playing against.  The Bucks had the NBA’s best regular season record and were rated the fourth-best defensive team in the league.  The team’s guard, Jrue Holiday, was voted the league’s best defensive player in The Athletic’s survey of players.  Bucks’s superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was named the NBA’s 2020 Defensive Player of the Year and their center, Brook Lopez, was voted to the 2020 All-NBA second team defense.

Jimmy Butler Had A Historic Performance Despite Limited Resources

In my book Mighty: 7 Skills You Need to Move from Pandemic to Progress I discuss the importance of passion.  I define passion as owning the result.  Butler owned the Heat’s results despite injuries to teammates Tyler Hero and Victor Oladipo.  Scarcity of resources creates opportunities for creativity, others to step up, and historic performances.

Jimmy Butler Started Fast

You never have to recover from a good start.  Butler scored 22 of the team’s 28 first-quarter points.

Jimmy Butler Finished Strong

Butler scored 19 points in the game’s last six minutes.  The most dramatic was the shot shown below giving the Heat a 3-point lead with 58.2 seconds to play.

Great Leadership Is Most-Needed During Frustrating And Challenging Times

Everything great in this world was birthed through pain.  Success is uphill all the way.  Nothing of value ever comes easy.  This is when great leaders are most-needed.

Coach Spoelstra said, “In many ways, for 40 minutes of this game, it was frustrating.  Things weren’t going our way.  It just shows if you have the right grit and perseverance, you can find different ways to win, even if it’s ugly.  It always helps to have a guy like Jimmy Butler.”

Question, if your organization is facing frustrating and challenging times, do you have a leader like Jimmy Butler to help guide you through it?

Jimmy Butler Does Whatever Is Necessary To Win

Coach Spoelstra added, “In this game, Jimmy literally guarded every single person on the roster at some point.  So, yes, you can count the 56 points or you can count the two-way basketball, where he’s defending literally every single situation.  That’s what the greatest winners in this league do.”  Spoelstra would add how much physical conditioning and attention to detail is required to do so.

Charles Barkley agrees.  The following were his comments after the game:

Jimmy Butler Does Not Confuse Activity With Accomplishment

The win gave the Heat a 3-1 series lead but it is not over.  While Butler’s performance was historic, there is still work left to do.

Heat guard Kyle Lowery said, “I think we witnessed a guy who continues to be in his prime and playing at a level of basketball that not many players can get to.  You have to just kind of sit back and appreciate it.  We can’t just bask in the glory right now.  We’ve still got a job to do.  But we appreciate what his abilities are.”

Everyone appreciates his abilities right now!

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