Their personal tension traces to back-to-back, high-stakes Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 and 2023. Butler’s 47-point Game 6 to force a 2022 Game 7 was an elimination-game centerpiece that intensified scrutiny on any head-to-head matchup with Boston’s emerging star, Jayson Tatum [6][7]. After the 2022 Game 7 in Miami Butler embraced Tatum on court and told him, "Always, my dawg... You deserve this s***… Love, bro," an exchange that blended respect with the bitterness of a seven-game war [17]. In 2023 the series returned to Boston, and Tatum sprained his ankle on the first possession of Game 7 and was limited in the deciding contest — a physical moment opponents attacked late in the game and which became a touchpoint in postseries discussion about how the series was won and lost [4][5][19]. Subsequent public lines, denials of a one-on-one feud and later taunts kept the interpersonal story active beyond the box scores [16][18].
The relationship is best described as complicated: neither player has publicly escalated a sustained personal vendetta, and Butler has explicitly dismissed a one-on-one rivalry narrative while also making provocative remarks directed at Boston in 2024 that drew a rebuke from Heat president Pat Riley [16][18][21]. On-court interactions have included both warm exchanges (the 2022 postgame embrace) and competitive play that exploited injuries or matchup advantages (Tatum’s 2023 ankle) [17][4][5].
No definitive hate has been documented; their interactions mix mutual respect (Butler's 2022 postgame embrace of Tatum) with competitive, sometimes provocative comments from Butler and tough on-court play — the relationship is complicated rather than purely hostile [17][6][18].
The interpersonal storyline intensified after the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals when Butler’s 47-point Game 6 forced a Game 7 and the two met in multiple decisive moments across 2022 and 2023; Tatum’s 2023 Game 7 ankle and subsequent limited performance became another recurring flashpoint in media and team talk [6][7][4][5][19].
They have shown on-court civility and direct praise (the 2022 postgame embrace), but public comments and taunts since have kept the relationship from being described as a clear friendship; Butler has also said he believes the one-on-one rivalry framing was 'made up' while later making a pointed 2024 remark about Boston [17][16][18].