If you have not seen Uncut Gems — which, please stop reading this post and go do that, it rules — a major plot point involves then-Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett possessing a rare black opal that Adam Sandler, a jeweler in New York City, acquires. About 10,000,000 other, anxiety-inducing things happen (I swear, it’s a good movie), but the general gist is Garnett becomes convinced that his ability to play basketball well in a playoff series is tied to his being in possession of the opal.
The film’s directors, Benny and Josh Safdie, are gigantic basketball fans, and while watching the 2020 NBA Finals, they cannot help but see some parallels between the star of Uncut Gems and Jimmy Butler, who put forth a remarkable effort to will the Miami Heat to a Game 5 win that kept their hopes of a series comeback alive. In fact, after taking some time to chew it over, one of the brothers took to Twitter to declare that Butler has the gem.
Jimmy butler is currently in possession of the gem 💎
— SAFDIE (@JOSH_BENNY) October 10, 2020
The pair are well-documented Knicks fans, so it probably isn’t easy to offer up this level of praise for someone who plays for Pat Riley’s team. But hey, when someone has the opal, it’s hard to deny, and after his 35-point, 12-rebound, 11-assist, five-steal outing on Friday night, something has to be elevating Butler’s game to another level.
