Jimmy Butler has been a hot commodity in the NBA since his stint with the Philadelphia 76ers. There could have been a super team in Philly with Embiid and Butler on the roster, but the Sixers decided to trade Butler in 2019 to the Miami Heat. Jimmy Buckets had signed a 4-year $140,000,000 deal at the time. However, after his trip to Paris, he was ready to give it all up to play soccer alongside Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappe.
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Butler was going through a turbulent time in his career in that period. After getting traded by the Bulls to the Timberwolves in 2017, he spent just a year with the Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins-led Minnesota team. Next year, he found himself in Philly alongside Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. That didn’t pan out well either. Butler wanted to start afresh at the time and therefore, jokingly said he would play for Paris Saint-Germain if they bought him out.
When Jimmy Butler was willing to trade his basketball career for soccer
Back in 2019, the 6ft 7’ Miami Heat forward was yet to play a game for his new team and was off on a vacation in Paris. There he visited his favorite soccer club, Paris Saint-Germain.
“Anytime if y’all wanna buy me out and let me come play here [with PSG]? Just let me know,” Butler had said to the PSG staff during a candid interaction. When they asked him what position he’d want to play, the Heat star had replied, “I just want to be on the field with Neymar and Mbappe.”
Butler also claimed that Neymar is the GOAT and promised that he’d argue with anybody about it. He looked star-struck when he saw the legendary Brazilian center-back Thiago Silva and some other PSG players before a game.
Watch all of it in the following YouTube vlog by Jimmy Butler.
This wasn’t the only time Butler opened up about his wish to play with the PSG duo
Back in 2021, in an interview for GQ’s ‘Actually Me’, the 6-time NBA All-Star was asked which (soccer) club he’d want to play for. Jimmy didn’t waste a second in saying PSG, stating that he’d love to play alongside Mbappe and his GOAT Neymar.
“I would definitely have to say PSG, I think if I’m alongside Mbappe, the greatest to ever do it in Neymar Jr. I feel like they’re gonna make me look like I really know what I’m doing out there on the pitch,” said Jimmy. It would actually be fun to watch these three stars of their respective sport play any kind of ball-game together.
