In their most recent rankings, NBA.com has Butler rated as the 10th most qualified candidate for the 2015 MVP award. Despite the growing awareness around the league of how good Butler has become, Jimmy maintains that all this publicity regarding his exponential improvement is overblown.
"“I’m not a star. I’m a good role player on a really, really good team. A really, really deep team. I like role players. ‘Star’ has never been next to Jimmy Butler’s name, it never will be. I’ll always be just an under-the-radar dog.”"
Jimmy Butler’s humility in the face of success is eerily reminiscent of Joakim Noah’s attitude regarding his MVP candidacy last season. Joakim Noah shocked the NBA world by placing 4th in MVP voting at the end of the 2013-2014 season and earning an All-NBA first team designation.
At certain points during the season, Noah looked like he had a serious chance of winning the award with the way he was leading the beat-up Bulls back to prominence. On more than one occasion at the United Center, the home crowd chanted “MVP, MVP, MVP, MVP” when Noah shot free throws. Despite the kind gesture, Noah expressed displeasure to reporters regarding the MVP chants that he had been receiving.
"We have one MVP, and that’s Derrick Rose. And it’s not about MVPs, it’s about rings, and one day I hope that we can get one here.”"
The meteoric rise of Butler up the 2015 MVP ladder bares more similarity to Noah’s run at the award last season than merely the humble attitude that both approached the extra publicity that came with being considered for the award. Both players deserved MVP consideration because without each player in their respective season, the Bulls would have been significantly less successful as a team.
People tend to misinterpret the meaning of the award. MVP stands for most valuable player. It doesn’t designate the most talented or even the best player in the league that season. Rather, the MVP of the NBA should be a player whose value to their own team transcends any other player’s value to their respective team. Neither Butler nor Noah will ever put up the flashy offensive statistics that guys like Lebron James and Kevin Durant produce on a nightly basis. However, Joe and Jimmy G. belong in the same category as the latter because they are just as important to their overall team success than Durant or James.