Jimmy Butler wasn't putting up with any of Chris Paul's intimidation tactics during the Miami Heat's loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday. On Friday, Butler said he elbowed the point guard in retaliation after Paul threw a ball at Heat teammate Duncan Robinson.
"I just don't like (Paul) picking on my young fellas like that," Butler told Rachel Nichols on ESPN's "The Jump." "I feel like (he) didn't have to do that. (My response) was like ... an eye for an eye."
When asked if he has since smoothed things over with Paul, Butler offered a hard no.
"I don't care," he said. "I don't need friends here in the bubble. I barely leave my room. I'm in my room minding my business. I'm not going to see nobody."
Confining himself to his lodgings at the NBA's Walt Disney World Resort campus has been a recurring theme for Butler. Before seeding games began, the star reportedly received a noise complaint for dribbling a basketball in his room.
"There's only so many things you can do in your room before you just start thinking of some nonsense to do," Butler said Friday. "But now, I have found other ways to compete."
