By now, many of us know about the origin story of Jimmy Butler and how he beat the odds every time. The Marquette product owns a debt of gratitude to Michelle Lambert – a lady whom he calls ‘mother’ – for taking him in.
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Making it to the NBA is a task that is a pipe dream for 99.9% of the general population. Not only do you need a crazy amount of genetic luck, you also need to work extraordinarily hard and capitalize on your innate talents to the fullest – at every stage – to stand a chance.
Things get much harder when you don’t have parents supportive of your dreams, either financially or emotionally. In Jimmy’s case, well, he had neither sort of support, seeing as his mother drove him away from their Tomball home at 13.
Jimmy Butler was taken in by Michelle Lambert, the mother of Jordan Leslie
Jimmy did not lose hope. He was a popular boy and had quite a few friends, who were all willing helpers. Butler bounced around friends’ houses for 3 years as he went from middle school to finishing junior high.
Shortly before his senior year, Jimmy had a chance encounter with freshman Jordan Leslie. Impressed by Butler’s talent, Leslie challenged him to a 3-point shootout. After the game, Leslie invited Butler over to his house.
Soon, their bond became strong enough that the future NFL wide receiver ‘took him in’ of his own accord. After a couple of weeks, his mother Michelle Lambert caught wind that Jimmy had been living with them.
Leslie had 6 other siblings to share a home with in Mrs. Lambert’s Tomball home. However, at Leslie’s insistence, Michelle soon developed a loving bond with Jimmy as well, officially taking him in.
Much later, when Jimmy had begun receiving major minutes for the Bulls, she revealed her side of the story in an interview:
“He (Jimmy Butler) hid from us! He stayed upstairs and wouldn’t come downstairs. He’d send Jordan to give him food. So I guess he thought if he wasn’t seen, no one would know he was here!”
“It is hard, you know, when people say you just pick a child you don’t even know. And people think different things and say different things. Not to say that different people didn’t say ‘Oh, don’t let him in, he’s supposedly done this’.”
“You’ve got to go with your gut. He brought more to us than ever we could bring to him.”
Jimmy still maintains a relationship with his biological mother
Jimmy Butler is not the type to hold on to the past or make it a crutch. According to him, he has no regrets about the way he went through many hardships.
He does take pride in the route he took and the work he’s put in. He’s also reconnected with his biological mother Londa Butler, who’s had her own set of drug issues to deal with.
