Grant Williams was recently interviewed and described his interaction with Jimmy Butler during the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. As many fans might be aware, Grant was a solid member of the roster for the Boston Celtics prior to being traded to the Dallas Mavericks this offseason. He brought impressive hustle and a defensive presence to the Celtics throughout the 4 years that he played for them.
During the most recent NBA playoffs, fans will remember that the Celtics and Heat matched up in the Conference Finals. Despite entering the postseason as the 8th seed, Jimmy Butler and the Heat were looking to get past the 2nd seeded Boston Celtics and make the NBA Finals.
Many of us already know that the Heat ended up winning this series and earning themselves another trip to the NBA Finals. However, we don’t know much about the interactions between Grant and Jimmy during the series. Now that we do, let us take a closer look and find out what occurred at the time.
How did Jimmy Butler respond to Grant Williams?
Fans will remember how the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals went down. Almost every single NBA analyst and expert had the Boston Celtics easily winning their matchup against the Miami Heat. Not only did they finish with a much better record, but the Celtics also had no injuries to their starters while the Heat missed Tyler Herro throughout the entire series.
Therefore, it stunned the entire NBA world when they saw the Heat win both Game 1 and Game 2 against the Boston Celtics while playing under the pressure of being a road team. Jimmy’s trash-talk started earning him comparisons to Michael Jordan. One of the iconic moments of Game 2 was the trash talk and headbutting that occurred between Butler and Grant Williams.
We never knew who initiated it up until this point. Now we have Grant’s perspective on the events that transpired. Here is what he had to say.
“Eh listen, that’s the funny thing that happened like we were playing that game I think we were up by 8. I’m playing well and Jimmy says ‘hella nah he ain’t here.’ So I made a three. I said ‘hella no Motherf*cker I’m here’ and I said it to him barking cuz it doesn’t matter what you said imma always respond. I never talk trash myself, I’m too nerdy….Next, play Jimmy hezi boom boom stops pivot and 1. He says ‘I’m here too motherf*cker.'”
“Jimmy says, ‘Hell nah. He ain’t here.’ … I said, ‘Hell no motherf*cker I’m here.’ … I’m not a trash talker. I’m too nerdy… Jimmy knows it’s all love cuz we’re just competitors, like naturally.”
Grant Williams tells the story of the back and forth he had with Jimmy Butler… pic.twitter.com/WaANrIV5pi
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 20, 2023
NBA fans would have undoubtedly enjoyed finding out the nature of trash talk and words exchanged between Butler and Williams. Grant also went on to defend himself by pointing out that the rest of the Heat squad showed up to help them win this game.