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Jimmy Butler III · Following four appearances on the All-NBA Third Team from 2017-21, Jimmy Butler has ascended to Second Team status. Shooting a career-best 54 percent from the field, Butler averaged 22.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game to complete his third straight 20-5-5 season. In one of his 10 30-point performances on January 10, Butler made all 23 of his free throws, tying Dominique Wilkins for the second-most made foul shots without a miss in NBA history. The legend of Jimmy Buckets grew with the postseason’s arrival, as Butler posted a game-high 31 points in a play-in tournament victory over the Chicago Bulls to earn the Miami Heat the East’s eighth seed. In a colossal upset, the Heat became the sixth No. 8 seed to knock off a top seed, eliminating the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in a series where Butler scored a career-high and franchise-record 56 points in a Game 4 victory. Butler’s 42 points in a Game 5 closeout win made him the first Heat player to log back-to-back 40-point games in the playoffs, and his eight postseason games of 40-plus points are the most in team history. Butler was then named Eastern Conference Finals MVP after the Heat eliminated the second-seeded Boston Celtics in seven games, and the six-time All-Star became the third Heat player to log 500 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists in a single postseason. · State of Mint