Everyone remembers the practice.
You know the one. Jimmy Butler has been holding out after his All-Star season with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2017. He requests a trade, and Tom Thibodeau downplays it at media day. He skips training camp and plays pickup games at LifeTime Fitness.
Then, on Oct. 10, 2018, he shows up at practice, beats the starters with the backups and G-Leaguers, and trash-talks everyone on the way out. Two hours later, Butler explained his side of the story in an interview with Rachel Nichols on ESPN. He talked about beating Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins with the backups and highlighted his issues with the Timberwolves organization.
When Nichols asked if the situation was fixable, Butler responded: “It could be. It could be. But do I think so? No. Because you got to be honest. I’m being honest. Do I think so? No. I’m being honest with you. But is everybody gonna be honest? No. No, everybody’s not gonna be honest.”
Even though he can be combative, it’s hard not to like Butler. He’s cheesy but charismatic, a blue-collar player who’s a little emo. He was the Chicago Bulls’ 30th overall pick after three years at Marquette and became a six-time All-Star. Butler is a self-made superstar who elevated the post-Derrick Rose Bulls and the Miami Heat after the Big 3 departed.
Miami felt like the perfect fit for Butler. The Heat are a championship organization, and Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra emphasize team culture. Miami traded for Butler and signed him to a four-year, $142 million extension. Butler requested a trade this season, but he has spent six years with the Heat and was happy with the situation as recently as last year.
“My style of leadership works here,” he told The Athletic in 2023. “[Dwyane Wade] always told me about the culture here and how it fits who I am, what I’m about and how I go about things. It really is a match made in heaven. I love it here.”
But in late December, Butler requested that the Heat trade him by the Feb. 6 deadline.
“We usually don’t comment on rumors,” Riley replied in an official statement on Dec. 26, “but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches. Therefore, we will make it clear — we are not trading Jimmy Butler.”
Butler doubled down after only scoring nine points in Miami’s 128-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 2. The Heat’s implication that he didn’t play his hardest in a 119-108 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, his first game in 13 days after missing time with an illness, didn’t sit well with him.
“I want to see me getting my joy back playing basketball. Wherever that may be, we’ll find out here pretty soon,” Butler said. “I’m happy here off the court, but I want to be back to somewhat dominant. I want to hoop, and I want to help this team win, and right now, I’m not doing it.”
When a reporter asked if he could get his joy back on the court with the Heat, Butler responded, “Probably not.”
If Butler isn’t happy in Miami, does that say more about him or the organization?
The Heat joined the NBA as an expansion franchise in 1988-89, one year before the Timberwolves. They have made the playoffs 25 times in 37 seasons, have won three championships, and own a 52.7% winning percentage. Conversely, the Bulls have only won titles with Michael Jordan, and the Philadelphia 76ers’ process has resulted in a mess.
Minnesota joined the league a year after the Heat. They’ve made the playoffs 12 times in 36 seasons, reached the Western Conference Finals twice, and own a 41.2% winning percentage. Naturally, people around the league felt Butler had finally landed with a quality organization in Miami and that he was right to be upset with the Bulls, Wolves, and Sixers.
Most people sided with Butler after his infamous practice, including Minnesota fans. After trading for Butler, the Timberwolves won 47 games in 2017-18 and made the playoffs for the first time since reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2003-04. However, the Houston Rockets beat them in five games, and Butler flew to Los Angeles instead of returning to Minnesota with the team.
Few blamed him when he started “conveying his concerns for the franchise and casting doubts on his willingness to stay long term.”
The Timberwolves had traded Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and Lauri Markkanen for him on draft day in 2017. Thibodeau reunited him with former Bulls teammates Rose, Luol Deng, and Taj Gibson. However, Butler didn’t mesh with Towns and Wiggins, who were on larger contracts.
A year after the Wolves traded for Butler and reached the playoffs for the first time since Kevin Garnett was in his prime, he was picking on Towns in practice.
“[We] jump the ball. He’s like, ‘I got KAT.’ I was like, ooh s—, Jimmy and KAT ain’t like each other.” former Timberwolves point guard Jeff Teague explained on a podcast last year. “So they jump the ball. We throw it to KAT first play. Jimmy steals it. They go down and score. Like, ‘Come on KAT, post his little ass up, man! He can’t guard you.’
“Jimmy’s like, ‘F— outta here! He’s trash!’ Steal the ball again. They go down and score. Jimmy started talking to the GM, everybody in the gym. ‘Y’all better motherf— pay me! I’m like that!’
It’s hard to escape the emotions in the moment, and many sided with the bully. Towns is a good person who’s battled adversity in his life. However, he can be aloof and was on losing teams in Minnesota until Butler arrived. Conversely, Butler won in Chicago and led the Heat to the bubble Finals the year before the Timberwolves drafted Anthony Edwards and in 2022-23, Edwards’ first All-Star season.
Fans were frustrated with the Wolves until Edwards arrived. Last year’s run to the Western Conference Finals assuaged some of that animosity. However, people are upset again this year after they traded Towns and started this season hovering around .500.
Trading Towns to the Knicks closed the book on Flip Saunders’ vision of Towns, Wiggins, and LaVine leading the Timberwolves out of their doldrums. We’ll never know what happened to that team because Thibodeau took over after Saunders’ death and traded for Butler. It was exciting at the time, but Towns and Thibodeau have New York off to a promising start this season, and Wiggins has won a championship with the Golden State Warriors.
Meanwhile, Butler has yet to win a championship with the Heat and is pushing his way out of the organization, just as he did with the Bulls, Wolves, and Sixers.