The Miami Heat’s locker room has twin black doors, and Kyle Lowry is standing in front of them as members of the media and team staff move back and forth on the red carpet in front of him. It’s the day before Game 3 of the 2023 NBA Finals.
Lowry, 37, is playing in his 18th NBA campaign. On his fourth team, he is. Six times All-Star and NBA champion, he. He will go into the Hall of Fame, according to his Heat teammates and coaches. He also has a strong desire to win another championship in his second full season in Miami, not just for the Heat but also for a close buddy. He has a small part of him that thinks everything has happened exactly as it should.
Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat, a personal buddy, shares the same sentiments. For more than a decade, the two have fantasized about this occasion. The same principles that propelled both players’ improbable journeys to NBA stardom—work and trust—also underpin their friendship. Both men are proudly referred to by their teammates, which is a moniker they both find endearing. But the two have helped the Heat’s team, which is comprised of players who desire to have careers similar to theirs, get within three games of an NBA title by cultivating the same principles in the team’s locker room.
Throughout the Heat’s incredible postseason run, the perpetual brotherly seesaw between the two devoted pals has been on full show. Butler was questioned about what makes the Heat different from the traditional No. 8 seed after the Heat defeated the fifth-seeded New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference playoffs on May 12.
“We got Kyle Lowry,” Butler said, as a smile crossed his face.
Lowry, sitting next to a shirtless Butler at the podium, had his response ready.
“Shut up,” Lowry said, breaking into a smile.
Both on and off the court, the two have a rhythm that characterizes one of the most intriguing high-profile partnerships in the game. In addition, it explains why Lowry responds quickly when asked what his friend’s recruiting pitch was in the summer of 2021, before Lowry had negotiated a sign-and-trade agreement with the Raptors.
“It wasn’t a pitch,” Lowry told ESPN.