One can easily imagine that a person with the work ethic and competitive drive of Jimmy Butler was absolutely itching to return to the basketball court after missing multiple games for the Heat. His excitement was so high that he was literally screaming his accomplishments before they even happened during Saturday's game against the Kings.
The notable example of this happened in the third quarter at the free throw line. Just before sinking his tenth straight shot from the charity stripe, he exclaimed "10!" while looking towards the Sacramento bench.
Jimmy Butler yelled “TEN” before hitting his 10th straight free throw 😂 pic.twitter.com/JYN8obbRQJ
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 31, 2021
As mentioned earlier, Butler has missed a few games after being on the COVID restricted list for the Heat when he tested positive for the respiratory disease. As a matter of fact, the number of games he missed due to his recovery and the league's COVID protocol was the exact number he yelled in the video: 10. The last game he played in was on Jan. 9 -- a 128-124 win against the Washington Wizards.
Missing games wasn't the only way that the coronavirus affected Butler. According to Ethan Skolnick of the Five on the Floor podcast, the Heat guard went through a significant bit of weight loss. Specifically, he lost "more than a dozen pounds in roughly a week."
This is all to say that Butler had more than enough reason to be excited about his return to the court, so he can yell whatever he wants.
