How do you define Jimmy Butler as a player? He was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 30th overall pick in the first round of 2011. That year was a proud moment in the Bulls' modern history:Derrick Rose He led the team to 62 wins and was elected the annual MVP as the youngest player in history. Butler's career began as a knife-wielding guard beside Rose.
I believe fans will be deeply impressed by what happened next:Rose suffered an injury in the playoffs the following year., but Butler performed well when the team was leaderless and gradually became the team's key offensive and defensive player. Butler is low-key, doesn't like to talk, and even once said, "I'm not a star." But he has successively won the Most Improved Award, the All-Star Game, the Defensive Team of the Year, and even the Best Team of the Year.
However, since being sent away in 2017, Butler's image has become polarizing. He is indeed the soul of the Timberwolves ending their playoff drought; but he also continues to bully Karl-Anthony Towns, causing disharmony within the team. The reason why. After leaving the Bulls, Butler began to bid farewell to a low profile and showed his domineering leadership. He successively worked for the Timberwolves and 76ers, and had a substantial impact on the game.
Before the free market opened in the summer of 2019, he made it clear: "I think I can get a maximum salary contract wherever I go." And he went back and forth between the Sixers, Rockets and Heat. Whether you like him or not, you have to admit that as one of the few offensive and defensive superstars in the league, he can indeed change the entire league and is worthy of this maximum salary contract. The following are the classic battles of Jimmy Butler's career in the regular season:
Table of Contents
Zero second kill
- season:2023-24
- result:Heat 118-116 Bulls
- data:28 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
The Bulls took a 116:114 lead with 1 minute and 28 seconds left in the game. However, the Heat first relied on DeMar DeRozan's fatal mistake to tie the score, and then Jimmy Butler, who seized the last chance, "rolled call" through the cover of his teammates. White, who had poor defense in isolation, made a buzzer-beating mid-range shot in front of the latter, helping the Heat secure a thrilling victory at 118:116.
Become a starter
- season：2012-13 (second season of career)
- result:Bulls 104-97 Timberwolves
- data:20 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block
Jimmy Butler didn't have much of a chance in his rookie year. It wasn't until the end of the second season of his career that he really stepped on the court as a starter. As expected, he seized the opportunity and repaid the coach's trust with a brilliant performance of 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals. Since then, he has never returned to the bench; and the Bulls traded main force Luol Deng to the Cavaliers the next year, concentrating on leaving the small forward position to this kid who was about to shine.
half match
- season：2015-16 (fifth season of career)
- result:Bulls 115-113 Tyrannosaurus Rex
- data:42 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, FG 65.2%
Fast forward to the 2015-16 season, Jimmy Butler has long been replaced by Wu Xiamen. He won the Most Improved Player award the previous season, and his statistical performance even matched that of Derrick Rose, making him the de facto leader of the Bulls. In this game, Butler showed the explosive scoring power of a top star.
The Bulls traveled north to Canada to face the Raptors, and Jimmy Butler only scored two points in the first half. Seeing the team trailing 48:60 at halftime, Butler began to show his leadership style, scoring 21 points in the third quarter and 19 points in the fourth quarter, including the crazy four-pointer that won the final victory. Not only did he beat both Raptors The gun comparison made him one of the key stars.
Butler's miraculous 40 points in the half also set a new half-time scoring record in Bulls history. The original record was 39 points in a half set by Michael Jordan in 1989. Interestingly, at that time, gossip magazines even claimed that Butler was Jordan's illegitimate son, adding an extraordinarily bizarre connection between the two.
Covering the sky with one hand
- season：2015-16 (fifth season of career)
- result:Bulls 115-111 Sixers
- data:53 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, FT 21-25
"I have been practicing on the court throughout the New Year's Eve weekend. Even if I didn't feel the need to give the ball to me today, they still believed that I would score. With teammates like this, you will have incredible confidence. Just like how I looked at it today They all feel like the basket is very big.”
Jimmy Butler
The smoke of the 40-point half-time explosion has not yet dissipated. About 10 days later, Jimmy Butler set the universe on fire again! The matchup against the 76ers, who were at the bottom of the league, was supposed to be a determined game, but the Bulls played extremely hard. The Sixers' Robert Covington and Ish Smith both scored 20+ points, but the Bulls only had Jimmy Butler...
Butler was all over the game, taking 30 shots and still maintaining a 50% shooting percentage. With 25 free throw opportunities, he set a career-high score of 53 points in one breath. Not only was he the first player to do so in a single game since Jamal Crawford in 2004. Bulls players who scored 50+ points also had 10 rebounds, 5+ assists, and 3 steals. In the past thirty years, only Jordan, Chris Webber and Dwyane Wade have done this.
(Yes, there is Jordan again...)
Mature leader
- season：2017-18 (seventh season of career)
- result:Gold Nugget 125-128 Gray Wolf
- data:39 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal
In the 2017-18 season, Jimmy Butler was traded to the Timberwolves, and the tasks on his shoulders were even more difficult. He must lead a group of potential newcomers who don't understand what winning means, and step by step break Minnesota's more than ten-year playoff drought. However, with Butler's input on both offense and defense, the Timberwolves really took on a new look. They once reached the top three in the Western Conference at the beginning of the season, and in the game against the Nuggets at the end of December, Butler's leadership qualities were clearly visible.
In this game, he not only scored 39 points personally, but also hit countless key goals in a row. He also connected the team with assists at critical moments, leading this group of young wolves to win with team performance. In the end, Butler missed the game mid-season, but returned in time at the end of the season to lead the Timberwolves to break the curse and finally return to the playoffs after 13 years.
Destroy the pinnacle
- raceseason：2018-19 (eighth season of career)
- result:Sixers 122-119 Hornets
- data:15 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks
After spending more than a season with the Timberwolves that was like a soap opera, Jimmy Butler finally ended his career in the Great Northern Wilderness and was traded to Philadelphia to start over. He showed his star value when he first joined the Sixers. Against the Hornets on November 17, the opponent's ace Kemba Walker was like a god. He made 21 of 34 shots and scored a career-high 60 points. However, at the last moment of the overtime, Jimmy Butler was determined to get everything done.
Prior to this, Butler had only made 3 of 10 shots and scored 12 points; however, he was so confident that after asking for the ball, he had no other teammates in his eyes, only the defender's center of gravity and the distance from the basket. He decisively took a lateral step, and the shooting mechanism was activated instantly. The defender Dwayne Bacon could not react in time, and the ball had already left his fingertips - a sure shot! Butler not only took away the victory, but also viciously ruined Walker's peak night - just like his controversial image that has mixed reputations to this day.
Be
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