Holding teammates accountable and keeping a solid work ethic is never a surprise in the actions of former Chicago Bulls star Jimmy Butler.
Former Chicago Bulls Star small forward Jimmy Butler did what only he could thinkably do given his reputation around the NBA. The Miami Heat recently signed star is apparently keeping on his teammates to improve, no matter the circumstances at hand, which is something he’s always done.
According to a report from the Miami Herald and accounts from his teammate and point guard Goran Dragic, Butler sent hoops to his teammates in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic-induced NBA season hiatus. Butler is looking to keep his team sharp while the hiatus is in place.
That report from the Miami Herald shows that Butler is keeping hard at work too while he is stuck at home due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States.
On one hand, this move by Jimmy is a symbol of how hard he likes to work and how emphatic he is about accountability of teammates, and on the other him sending hoops to other Heat players should come as a surprise to no one. Butler did cause some friction with previous teams he was a part of in his NBA career.
He and his agent had that infamous disagreement and friction with the Bulls front office near the end of his run in Chicago. They clearly didn’t like the duo that was vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman. But the good news for Bulls fans in that regard is that GarPax no longer runs this front office.
Butler also ran into strenuous situations in previous stops with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers over the course of the last two years. The Bulls had originally traded him to Minnesota back in 2017. He was then later traded from the Timberwolves to the Sixers in the middle of the 2018-19 regular season.
Last offseason, the Heat inked Butler down to a max contract to keep the 6-foot-7 and 230 pound 30-year-old Houston, TX, native locked in for a while in South Beach. Along with Pat Riley and head coach Erik Spoelstra, the Heat do feel like the right personality fit for Butler on and off the court.
However, this move by Butler really did stem to the entirety of the Heat team. He even reportedly had the baskets, manufactured by a company called Lifetime in Utah, sent to players living in condos and that are on two-way contracts.
Since the start of the stay-at-home orders for a lot of states around the country, Butler posted a video of him workout on his YouTube page.
He’s also kept active on his Instagram page with pictures and videos of him working out.
Butler was truly a unique personality and talent to land with the Bulls when he was still playing in the Windy City. He was the first round pick of the Bulls (30th overall) in the 2011 NBA Draft. And he is widely considered one of the best value picks of the last decade in the NBA Draft.
The five-time NBA All-Star selection, two-time All-NBA honoree, four-time All-Defensive Team selection, and 2014-15 Most Improved Player award winner is having a solid inaugural season with the Heat. He’s registered 8.5 win shares and a box plus/minus rating of 5.2 in 54 games played so far with the Heat in the season that is currently placed on pause.