The Jimmy Butler Story
Jimmy Butler Let His Work Ethic and Devotion to the Game Define His Iconic Career
The story of basketball deserves this player, of this caliber and this character, being prominent on the ultimate stage.
A predatory competitor who showed us just how far self-belief, religious pursuit and fearlessness can carry us.
The killer look in Butler’s eyes and his aggressiveness for this entire playoffs is not new, but he has earned the new reverence he is receiving.
There is a VIP room where the metrics don’t matter.
It’s reserved for the unique group of players who had to be seen and experienced, to be held in the highest esteem.
An aura greater than their production, the statistical markers may not mirror but the way they made us feel triumphs over any accolade.
Best explained with facial expressions because it’s hard to put them into words.
This is how we will communicate to the next generation of the pecular nature of Jason Kidd, Chris Webber, Gary Payton and Vince Carter.
Jimmy Butler is this generations version and NBA lore has welcomed a new legend.
The picture of Jimmy Butler has similarities to a graffiti art mural you may find in Chicago, Philadelphia or perhaps Miami, that force you to step back to see the truly remarkable parts that make up the whole.
If you did not know the story from the start, welcome to basketball’s Blind Side.
Though the details early were murky and without much explanation, Butler told ESPN in a predraft interview about being kicked out of his single parent house at thirteen because his mother didn’t like the look of him.
He eventually settled in with the Lambert family, a friend whom he met before his senior year.
Jimmy was overlooked in high school, when hardly anyone is anymore, failing to get a Division I scholarship and going to junior college.
Butler faxed his letter of intent to play at Marquette from a McDonald’s, then in almost caprice he ends up there, where the skinny kid who by then was filling out to 6ft 6 was merely a tenacious defender.
He calculated angles in a flash and had a crystal ball for predicting your next move.
He was as strong as most big men and knew how to use leverage and hand strength to keep opposing players frustrated.
Intense and committed, but not an offensive standout.
After three years in college under Buzz Williams, the Bulls took a look with their last pick in the 2011 draft, and no one really thought much of him.
Even coach Tom Thibodeau, who later invested heavily to bring Butler to Minnesota recommended the Bulls not pick up his third year option after he averaged 2.6 points and sat out 23 entire games while healthy in his first season.
“When I came to Bulls, I didn’t know I’d even make it past the first two years,” Butler said earlier in his career.
“I adapted and found a way to stick around and keep my head above water.”
Some players fall in love with the result, Jimmy loved the process.
Grind always has been Butler’s anthem, often to the point of it being a personal playlist.
Everyone works; what’s the big deal? Butler would make it his anchor and the way he finally got onto the big stage.
He got his first start in the middle of the 2012-13 season when Luol Deng and Derrick Rose were out injured; leading with 18 points.
The playoffs came around and the ironman competition began, he closed out an exciting first round Brooklyn series in seven with back to back games playing 48 minutes.
Incredible stamina and conditioning allowed him to play another 48 minutes to open with a win in Miami against a superstar Heat side with 21 points and 14 rebounds.
Who was this guy? Even as the Bulls lost the next four games to LeBron, Wade and Bosh, Jimmy made his mark.
He had a bulldog mentality who simply didn’t like to be beaten in isolation situations, digging in on the ball particularly in his battles against Lebron.
“Everybody has their own story, mine is different, but I don’t think mine is more important than anybody else’s. I work. When you work, good things happen. I know I can overcome anything.”
Sometimes with Butler, it seems disingenuous, but his story is one of the most illustrious and unlikely in NBA history.
He symbolised what everyone aspires to be; the rose who journeys his way through the concrete to show the world what he’s about.
Butler always has been fiery and outspoken, part of that is the upbringing and going through the trials and tribulations he’s experienced from a young age.
Part of that was getting with the exact coach he needed to become an All-NBA player.
Tom Thibodeau’s influence on Butler and his career gave Butler the blueprint for finding what he wanted.
The stubborn work ethic and basketball obsession for both Thibodeau and Butler aligned.
This is where the Jimmy G. Buckets mantra had its breakout becoming an elite isolation scorer, while stamping his imprint on every important part of the game.
He developed signature moves like a deadeye fadeaway, a shimmy out of triple threat situations and a vigorous drive.
His elite change of pace, composure and patience would allow him clear openings as well as foul opportunities for free throws.
Despite no championship success, he grew wiser as time went on, greeting failure as an opportunity to explore alternative paths to victory and getting critical help from teammates along the way.
“When I came into the league, (the team was) MVP Derrick Rose, Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah and All-stars Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer. The way that they used to talk to each other in practice (was stark).
“You are going to be brutally honest in between these lines because we are all trying to win.” Butler said.
Luol Deng in particular was the veteran he needed.
“Luol taught me so much about the game and being a pro. I was very fortunate to be able to learn from him. He’s just an incredible human being.”
Despite feuds with Rose and Noah about whose team it was towards the end of his Bulls era, Butler wouldn’t be the same player without their impact.
“My point guard, my brother: For me, coming to Chicago to play and learn from you, an MVP, was eye-opening. You helped shape me into the player I am today.” Butler’s tribute to Derrick Rose in 2016.
Sharing the court with former champions Pau Gasol, Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade was also critical in Jimmy Butler’s development.
“Teach us what it takes to win whether it’s taking care of your body, the work you have to put in, studying film, how you have to know your teammates, (Wade) knows about all of that, same thing with Rondo.” Butler said upon Wade and Rondo’s arrival in 2016.
But the number 21 saw life on the other side when Thibodeau was ultimately fired for a front office fracture and for not adhering to rest standards.
As chaos saturated the Bulls organisation in the 2016–17 season, Dwayne Wade recognised that Heat culture was simply not Bulls or NBA culture and his praise of Miami stuck with Butler.
Bulls management were a chaos of conflicting ideas, inevitably leading to a trade to the Timberwolves to reunite with Tom Thibodeau.
Butler was demanding early on, he felt he knew what it took to compete, especially under Thibodeau.
Butler dragged the Wolves to their first postseason without Kevin Garnett involved.
Emblematic of Butler’s impact, they were the fourth seed when he went down with a knee injury on February 23, missed the next 17 games, and the Wolves fell to the eighth seed.
After a first round exit to Houston, Butler wanted out.
Then the infamous practice comes down. He led a third string unit to a victory over the starters embarrassing former number one picks Karl Anthony-Towns and Andrew Wiggins; whom the Wolves had committed over $300 million.
“Jimmy didn’t need to lead by scoring that day, he wanted to lead by being the toughest in the room. He put on a show and it was uncomfortable for a lot of people.” a Minnesota team source said about that practice.
Butler trash talked to see if a new Towns would emerge, instead, he got to build his own legend even more.
Following a trade, Butler spent the next few months with the Philadelphia 76ers, assessing if this was going to work for him when his free agency hit in 2019.
Butler loved Joel Embiid, while his conditioning has often been questioned, their personalities connected.
Butler didn’t believe Ben Simmons had the mental makeup, but moreover didn’t like the hierarchy of the organisation including coach Brett Brown.
“On any given day, me as a player, I didn’t know who was in charge.” Butler told former sixers teammates JJ Redick on his Podcast in 2020.
Because of Butler’s reputation in Chicago and Minnesota, former teammates including Jamal Crawford felt the story and idea Butler was a locker room problem were misrepresented.
As Butler likes to say, “I’m not for everybody.”
Jimmy Butler carries weight with pride and wears his scars as a badge of honour.
He will be honest and stand up for his beliefs, the team culture must be strong with the commitment and work ethic unending.
History might have been different if Kawhi Leonard’s legendary playoff run didn’t blitz Philadelphia in the conference finals but Butler’s experiences in Chicago, Minnesota and Philadelphia all ended with tension and burned bridges.
It’s tough to step anywhere in Kaseya Center and not see the giant jerseys honouring legends Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and be reminded of the champagne-soaked memories from the Miami Heat’s championship runs.
Butler was on his way to witness the Heat culture Wade spoke about and Miami fit him like a glove.
He was introduced to Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Goran Dragić, Duncan Robinson and a team culture that demanded every ounce of competition you have.
It connected with his values on every level, and he felt home for the first time since Thibodeau was grinding an emerging Chicago star.
Wade’s words of grandeur about the organisation proved true in the first year and he swore to president Pat Riley and head coach Erik Spoelstra that “this is the next guy.”
They found themselves in the NBA Finals after going through the formidable Eastern Conference past a Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee side and a young Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown Boston.
Despite losing the championship, his historic game three 40-point triple double and exhausting game five 35-point triple double where he dominated against Lebron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers will be remembered.
Two years later he was again on the cusp of an NBA championship after eliminating his former team Philadelphia 76ers and taking a stronger Boston side to a seven game series in the conference finals.
He had a courageous game 6 with 47 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds but injuries and tough opposition inevitably saw Miami fall short.
Playoff runs like these will serve as capsules for his eminence, carving himself in stone.
Basketball’s electric moments when skill and opportunity combine is where you find the soul of the game, giving meaning to the ‘ball is life’ mantra.
Damian Lillard’s 37-foot buzzer beater while he ruthlessly waved goodbye to Oklahoma City Thunder, Reggie Miller had the choke symbol and Allen Iverson had the step over Tyronn Lue.
Butler’s legacy should be preserved even without the records and trophies.
How many more performances does he need to stamp his legend? None, but he has given us more in this years playoffs anyway.
A team that scraped into the eighth seed and were tipped to get eliminated by championship favourites Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.
Playoff Jimmy landed and became the protagonist of the ultimate underdog story.
Larger than life and basking in the flashing lights, Butler started the series jawing at the Bucks, breaking them as much psychologically as he would physically.
Erik Spoelstra spoke about Butler’s mental fortitude and attention to detail.
According to the Heat coach, he’s calm and measured while simultaneously being angry and vicious, game four demonstrated this more than ever before.
In the first quarter, Butler went nine from ten with 22 points knocking down shots on six different defenders: three on Antetokounmpo, two on Holiday and then one each on Middleton, Portis, Ingles and Lopez.
A Bam Adebayo steal turned into a Butler breakaway dunk, which led to a deafening roar from a Kaseya Center crowd that was looking for a reason to believe all night.
Shortly after, Holiday got caught on a screen by Lowry which allowed Butler to race up the floor, stamp the arc and then step back for a left-wing jumper to give the Heat a 112–109 lead with 58.2 seconds left.
As the crowd went into a chaotic frenzy, Butler circled the floor, screaming at anyone who would listen, “This is my s — !”
It was reminiscent of Dwayne Wade’s “This is my house!” moment after a buzzer beater against his hometown Bulls over a decade earlier.
Scoring 56 points on an elite defender like Holiday while playing shutdown defence is simply astounding.
Following the upset series win, he was off to New York where he made the Madison Square Garden hardwood his canvas, with the basketball as his paintbrush.
He split double-teams, hit pull-up jumpers, drilled double-pumped off-balance shots and three-pointers.
Butler’s three-point shooting was similar to Dwyane Wade, typically a low-percentage shooter although in those moments of truth, would both become a killer.
With a game six series win, he backed up it up with a vengeful seven game series victory against rivals Boston Celtics to triumph to the NBA Finals once more.
He was a brilliant leader on offense, being surgical in how he would examine the layers of the Celtic defence and dissect a halfcourt set to find his team’s best scoring option.
Unfortunately for Miami, Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon guided Denver Nuggets to its first NBA title in team history in five games.
The rise of Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent combined with Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler just weren’t enough for championship glory.
It was a bitter end to an otherwise outstanding playoff run.
But in terms of Butler’s game and the current conversation among his contemporaries, his competitiveness reverberates throughout the league.
Lebron James had strong words about his competitive drive.
“Anytime you’re playing this game throughout your career, there’s certain guys that stick out, that you know when you step on the floor, it’s going to be maximum effort every possession.” James said.
When Kobe Bryant arrived at United Center to prepare for the Bulls matchup in 2013, he figured he’d be the only player in the building working up an early sweat.
“I was there early and he was there just as early and working on his game,” Bryant recounted.
“I think it’s just a testament of hard work, he’s developed every single year. He’d added a pull-up jump shot left, right. He pulls left shoulder, right shoulder. It’s just nothing but hard work. It pays off.”
In a league proliferated with brand building and clout clamoring, Butler is an anomaly.
Many say they don’t listen to outsiders, that they aren’t bothered by the haters, he’s the ambassador for those who actually don’t.
He is a portrait of the liberation in being unapologetically you.
Not a facade erected to hide fear, but one genuinely not afraid of the fall.
One who invites difficulty and transpires under pressure.
He is a testimony to the peace that comes with such a singular focus and unshakeable belief.
Butler worked himself to greatness.
Those types are just as worthy of remembering as the most talented and most accomplished.
They tell the story of the people who love basketball, who used it to build their character and find inspiration in its rugged beauty.
Basketball should always remember Jimmy Butler.
This playoffs he has made sure he won’t be forgotten.
“Nothing Comes Easy, Everything is Earned.” — Jimmy Butler
