Report: Dwyane Wade's Praise of Heat's Culture 'Stuck' with Jimmy Butler

Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler spent just one season as teammates with the Chicago Bulls, but it was enough to make Butler dream of being part of the Miami Heat.

ESPN's Zach Lowe reported Wade often discussed the Heat's culture with Butler during the 2016-17 season, which stuck with the All-Star swingman as he looked for a home in free agency last summer. His agent, Bernie Lee, told Lowe:

"We never once spoke about Miami as a city. Obviously it's an amazing place with amazing people, but Jimmy wasn't going there for the beach. Since he's gotten there, I think we have gone out to eat less than 10 times and one of them was the Super Bowl. We didn't even talk about the tax advantages. The only questions he asked were of the background of the people involved and how they would build out the team."

Butler's experiences in Chicago, Minnesota and Philadelphia all ended with tension and burned bridges. The demanding superstar rubbed teammates the wrong way, who rubbed him the wrong way and so on. As Butler seemed to wear out his welcome everywhere he went, Lee warned his enigmatic client that there is "no utopia in the NBA."

"I'd always hear back: What about Miami?" Lee said. "I can only assume the person who had a locker near Jimmy for a year and who is in a picture with Jimmy that has been the home screen on Jimmy's phone had something to do with that."

Butler appears to have found a perfect home with the Heat, leading the franchise to the conference finals in his first season in Miami. The franchise has embraced Butler's work ethic, which jibes with the business-like approach that begins with president Pat Riley and trickles down to coach Erik Spoelstra. 

The Heat have been one of the biggest surprises of the NBA bubble. Their 9-1 playoff record is the best of any team, and Butler's been the unquestioned postseason MVP so far.