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Based on all of the evidence at hand at the start of the NBA Playoffs, there weren’t really that many reasons to be super high on the Heat.
Miami was only able to punch its ticket to the postseason after successfully weathering the Play-In Tournament, and history suggested the chances they’d make a deep run were incredibly slim when you consider an eighth seed had only appeared in the NBA Finals a single time prior to this season.
However, the Heat were able to send the top-seeded Bucks home in five games before dispatching the Knicks in six and warding off Boston’s attempt to mount an unprecedented comeback in the Eastern Conference Finals to earn the right to face off against the Nuggets for all of the marbles.
Of course, there’s one man who’d probably tell you he knew that’s exactly how things were going to unfold: Jimmy Butler, the veteran guard who’s help ensure he and his teammates were able to realize the prophecy he issued after the team fell short of its goal last season.
Jimmy Butler in 2022: “Next year, we will have enough and we’re going to be right back in the same situation and we’re going to get it done.”
Promises made, promises kept. pic.twitter.com/KYGmUa3oqk
— Nikhila (@kokudum) May 30, 2023
Butler has plenty of receipts he could pull out to prove he’s always had faith in his squad, and now, another notable name has revealed just how confident he was heading into the postseason.
On Tuesday, 19-year-old tennis phenom (and diehard Heat fan) Coco Gauff spoke with reporters at The French Open and said Butler reached out to her prior to the start of the NBA Playoffs via DM to see if she had any interest in attending a game.
According to NBC New York, Gauff informed him that it would be a bit tricky for her to swing a contest thanks to the events she was slated to compete in. Based on what she shared, he had a fairly bold response, as she recalled:
“Then he said, ‘OK, when we make the Finals, let me know if your family wants some tickets.’ So this was before we were even in the playoffs.”
It’s safe to say that proclamation aged very well.