Is Jimmy Butler a Flopper?

Nov 30, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) dribbles the ball against Los Angeles Lakers center Tarik Black (28) during the first half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

15 FTA vs. Los Angeles Lakers, November 30

I think I covered many more words setting up this piece than I will need to go through each of these clips, so that’s the good news.

The bad news was Butler’s stat line in this one. He shot just 22.2 percent from the field for the game with four turnovers and three fouls in a Chicago homecourt loss to the visiting Lakers.

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Still, he finished the game with 22 points. How? Well, he shot 13-for-15 at the free throw line, or 86.7 percent, which is just 0.1 percent above his season average.

Butler had a very off game, but he still contributed to his team by getting to the line a whopping 15 times. That’s an awful lot of attempts. Some people would tell us that something fishy is going on with Butler, there is no other way to explain his ability to reach the line so often.

Let’s go to the tape:

Foul One: Bodied by Timofey Mozgov. That’s a legitimate foul every time. Butler had the presence of mind to turn it into a jumper. No flop.

Foul Two: Fouled by Tarik Black while trying to make an outlet pass for transition fastbreak. No flop.

Foul Three: Jimmy gets Black off his feet and then turned around. Once the arms get tangled, Jimmy flails. I’ll go flop, though barely.

Foul Four: Butler bodies Clarkson and uses his strength to continue into Larry Nance, Jr. No flop.

Foul Five: Julius Randle just barely gets under/into Jimmy. The ref calls it, no extra sauce from Butler. No flop.

Foul Six: Jimmy gets bodied by Mozgov again. Clearly a foul, attempts to finish. No flop.

Foul Seven: Absolutely hammered by Brandon Ingram across the arms. Not even close to a flop.

Foul Eight: Uses his strength to go through Thomas Robinson. No flop.

It might seem cumbersome, but what we’re looking to build here is a case for Butler as a flopper or not a flopper. In this particular game, Jimmy had 15 free throws. He was fouled in the above shown instances. Of the eight fouls shown in the clip, Jimmy embellishes contact to the point where it may be a borderline flop just one time.

After one game, it’s 7-1 in favor of not a flopper. The Bulls lost, 96-90.