Following his contentious exit from Miami, a lot has been said about Jimmy Butler and his impact on a locker room. The swingman has always brought his patented intensity to his teams and in some cases, it rubbed his colleagues the wrong way.
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No instance of this is more infamous than Butler’s stint in Minnesota. After being traded to the Wolves in 2017, Jimmy helped the franchise achieve their best record since 2004. However, by the end of his first season, the two-way wing would be frustrated by the front office and request a trade away from the team.
Jeff Teague, who was also in his first season with the Timberwolves when they landed Butler, shared some insight into the goings-on behind the scenes. “Jimmy ain’t a prima donna at all. That’s what’s crazy. Jimmy (is) like a blue collar worker but he just want(s) his bread,” Teague explained on ‘Out The Mud’.
“He had a little problem with KAT [Karl-Anthony Towns], the way KAT played. But it really came from, like, money. They extended KAT before they extended Jimmy.”
Towns had been the franchise’s cornerstone since they drafted him #1 overall in 2o15. In September 2018, the Wolves signed the All-NBA center to a 5-year $190 million super-max, which offended Butler. It did not help that Butler’s first deal with the Wolves was worth $100 million for four years.
“Before he [Butler] got hurt, we (were) 3 in the West. He’s like, ‘I just changed this franchise, like, pay me. I want a max deal right now’,” Teague shared.
The 2021 NBA champion added how KAT’s extension caused tensions between Butler and the team. And somehow, Teague would end up in the middle of the drama.
“I’m calling Jimmy and Thibs like I’m a f*****g mediator. He’s like ‘Is Jimmy coming to practice today?’ I call Jimmy. ‘Jimmy, you coming to practice today?’ ‘Tell that motherf***** to pay me!’… ‘Jimmy they say they gonna pay you in the summer.’ He’s like, ‘I don’t want the summer, I want it now’,” Teague recalled.
The situation would ultimately lead to an unceremonious exit for Butler. But he did find a unique way to make his point before leaving the franchise.
Butler’s infamous practice with the Timberwolves
Before the 2018-19 season kicked off, Jimmy finally requested a trade away from Minnesota. However, when training camp began and there were still no updates about his future, the 2015 Most Improved Player took matters into his own hands.
On October 10, 2018, Jimmy showed up to practice with a chip on his shoulder. It was his first time in the Wolves training facility since requesting a trade away. He told Tom Thibodeau that he would run a scrimmage against the starters with a team of only third-stringers.
Butler then proceeded to beat the starters in consecutive games before proudly marching out of the facility, proclaiming, “You f*****g need me. You can’t win without me.”
A lot of Minnesota players left Timberwolves practice today energized by Butler's performance, mesmerized with him taking end-of-the-bench players and running the table on the regulars, sources said. At the end, he marched out like if a mic drop. Butler delivered a tour de force.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 10, 2018
Even after he was traded to Philadelphia, that moment created tension between him and the Timberwolves, particularly, Karl-Anthony Towns. Last year, the Dominican-American center shared his side of the story with Paul George.
“I know we had a moment where we was arguing with each other. He said some s**t, I said some s**t back… We’ve had our differences but we’ve seen each other at All-Stars, we’ve talked. I’ve asked how his family was, he asked how my family was. I think we at a cool spot [now],” Towns said on ‘Podcast P’.
Six years later, the former teammates have both moved on from Minnesota. However, Butler certainly proved his value before exiting the franchise. After winning 47 games during their sole season with Jimmy, the Wolves would play subpar basketball for three consecutive seasons following his departure.
