Jimmy Butler is as eccentric as they come. From showing up to media day in an ’emo’ get-up to riding around Miami on a horse before this year’s playoffs, he does a lot. However, all these shenanigans are always secondary to basketball for him. Speaking on this during a recent sit-down, Jimmy’s former Timberwolves teammates, Jeff Teague, and Taj Gibson attested to Butler’s professional approach to the game.
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Gibson was recently a guest on the ‘520 Podcast‘ hosted by Teague. The former running mates spent the majority of the show discussing their time in Minnesota together. And naturally, the topic swerved to Jimmy Butler and his infamous time on that same 2017-2018 Wolves roster.
Recalling his time with Butler, Teague had nothing but praise for the Miami star. He said,
“I f**k with Jimbo[ Jimmy Butler] bro. Taj, Jimmy, and Jamal, they made my first year in Minnesota unbelievable.”
But the show’s host did admit that in his second year, the team was cannibalizing itself from the inside. It was a money problem in Teague’s eyes as everyone on the roster was looking to get paid.
Taj Gibson immediately backed his former teammates’ logic. Expounding on this, the Pistons center posed that Butler believed he should’ve gotten paid since he was the “alpha” on the team.
“Young guys got paid first. They were trying to give Jimmy some bread but there wasn’t enough money. It wasn’t that kind of money. Jimmy was basically like ‘Yo, I am the Alpha, and show me I am the guy’.”
A 38-year-old Gibson did admit to the fact that he tried to convince Butler to stay, but was unsuccessful. The New York native even recalled how the now-Heat star declared to everyone on the team that he wasn’t interested in “talking” to them, departing the team after a hot-head confrontation with Wolves players.
Gibson and Teague revealed that they have no hard feelings for Butler even after this incident. Instead, they admitted that they understood Jimmy’s anger and frustration were due to Minnesota’s front office lowballing him. The team wasn’t the issue.
Taj Gibson and Jeff Teague have always been among the most understanding players that the NBA has ever seen. So, it’s no surprise that they have made the effort to understand Jimmy Butler. However, they could be slightly wrong about Jimmy’s relationship with his teammates.
Butler reportedly despised his teammate’s unprofessional approach to the Game
Jimmy Butler’s tenure with the Minnesota Timberwolves ended after just one season, and Butler’s view of his T-Wolves teammates reportedly played a big role in his decision to leave for Philadelphia the following year.
A source close to Bulter told Marc Berman of the New York Post, that Butler took issue with the way the Timberwolves players conducted themselves, and placed a heavy emphasis on the lack of grit and toughness in the team. Reporting on it, Berman wrote,
“Butler didn’t like some of the guys’ lack of professionalism. [Jimmy] and [then-Timberwolves head coach] Tom [Thibodeau] had long talks about how to deal with it. When Butler realized it was unsolvable, he lashed out at the organization. His clock was ticking on his prime and didn’t want to waste it and forced his way out. Tommy was telling him to have patience, see it through.”
From the looks of it, there was an effort to keep Butler in Minnesota. Unfortunately, the Timberwolves cast and their lack of funds ensured that JB walked away, as ‘Jimmy G Buckets’ went off to Philadelphia and then Miami, taking both teams into deep playoff runs in the consequent seasons.
