This offseason, the internet is fascinated by tales of Jimmy Butler. Among the more mythical of those is this one about him removing the rearview mirrors of his car.
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Jimmy Butler has one of the most motivational sports stories ever. Born in Tomball, Texas, Butler was abandoned by his mother in middle school.
He lived with his friends in their parents’ houses all through high school. Butler attended community college for a year before earning a basketball scholarship to a D1 program in Marquette.
Why Jimmy Butler’s story of removing his rearview mirrors is believable
Butler was an unheralded rookie. Through 4 years of college basketball, he hadn’t yet established a serious offensive skillset at the NBA level. He worked hard at his shooting and ability to drive to the bucket, developing his body.
Given heavy minutes by Tom Thibodeau following Derrick Rose’s injury, Butler began taking more responsibilities offensively. By his third season, Butler was the third highest scorer on the Bulls behind Boozer and DJ Augustin.
He truly ratcheted his play to another level during the 2014-15 season when Derrick Rose returned to the side full time. He earned his first All Star selection and the Most Improved Player trophy this year.
With this backdrop of career development in mind, it would make sense that Butler is a forward-thinking guy who doesn’t dwell in the past. ESPN ran a story about Butler having removed the rearview mirrors of his car as ‘he never wanted to look back’ at the start of the following season.
Butler is a cultural icon in South Beach now. The Heat defied all expectations in returning to the NBA Finals for the first time in 6 seasons. Butler pulled off a couple of all-time great performances, outplaying the best player in the game in LeBron James.
It is his fearless and never-say-die attitude towards basketball that continues to add to his legend. It would have been great if this rumor was true. However, Butler denied ever doing this on an appearance on NBA fan show ‘The Starters’.
