The former Chicago Bulls star Jimmy Butler recently credited some former teammates of his to help him develop into the leader he is today.
Former Chicago Bulls star shooting guard/small forward Jimmy Butler is helping the five-seed Miami Heat make a surprise run in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference in the bubble at Disney World this year. Butler is the star presence that is helping to push the Heat to elevated heights this season compared to the last few under long-time head coach Erik Spoelstra and the legendary Pat Riley.
The five-seed Heat just pushed their lead to 3-1 after topping the three-seed Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sep. 23, by the final score of 112-109. “Jimmy G. Buckets” and the Heat are now just one win away from his first NBA Finals appearance. If they can seal the deal against the Celtics, the Heat will go onto either face the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers or three-seed and upset-minded Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals.
The way that Butler is leading the Heat right now has to frustrate Bulls fans at least a little bit after he was dumped off to the Minnesota Timberwolves to spark the rebuild the team currently finds itself in. The Bulls traded Butler back in 2017, for the return that landed them power forward Lauri Markkanen, point guard Kris Dunn, and shooting guard Zach LaVine.
Butler shouts out Deng, Boozer, DRose and Noah as veterans who helped him learn the game the way he has helped Herro in his rookie year.
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) September 24, 2020
Butler was the brightest star that the Bulls had on the team following Derrick Rose’s exit from his hometown to join the New York Knicks in 2016. But the Bulls didn’t feel like they could successfully build around Butler to the point where they could reach the heights of a title contender again.
Oh how funny that thought sounds in hindsight.
Butler still developed a lot of good relationships during his six year run with the Bulls. He recently reportedly credited the likes of former Bulls stars Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, and Carlos Boozer, for helping him become a better leader and mentor. He can now use that to help mentor younger Heat players, specifically rookie guard Tyler Herro.
The Bulls and Heat are in much different places since Butler was originally shipped out of the Windy City more than three years ago. Herro, Butler, and the Heat are inching closer toward an NBA Finals appearance while the Bulls are gutting out the organization to try and find a more promising direction for the rebuild.