October 5th 2020. NBA Finals. Game 3. 115-104. Miami Win. 2-1 for the Lakers. 40-11-13. These are Jimmy Butler's numbers after an all-time NBA Finals performance. With 40 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists in 45 minutes, Butler led the Miami Heat to a crucial win over the Los Angeles Lakers of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
That performance caused a sensation and shone a light on how commited and how much a leader Jimmy Butler is. He left it all on the court, showcasing the whole world how good a player he is on both sides of the floor and how commited he is. Such a performance in such a complex and difficult situation, with his team's back to the wall and multiple teammates unable to play, Jimmy Butler delivered an all-time NBA Finals performance when his team needed him the most.
Underrated from the beginning
When looking back at Butler's history, the first thing you might hear about is his difficult childhood. Abandonned by his father when he was an infant, he had to grow up without a father in a tiny town on the outskirts of Houston. If you don't know his story, you must be thinking the next sentence will be about how his mother helped him become the man he is today. In a way she did, but not in a way you are probably expecting. At age 13, she kicked him out of the house and left him with these words: “I don’t like the look of you. You gotta go.”
Having to bounce between the homes of various friends, staying for a few weeks at a time before moving to another house, Butler was pretty much homeless. Living in such a way forges your character but it wasn't the case for Jimmy. What made Jimmy Butler who he is today is his tremendous work, his grit and his toughness. These values obviously ensue from his difficult experiences but also his time in the Leslie family, who accepted him in their family, where he had to stay out of trouble, work hard in school and be a role model for the other kids. As you may know, being a role model is kind of natural trait when talking about JB nowadays.
Butler's basketball debut dates back to his time in Tomball High School, Texas. Only ranked 73rd in the state, Jimmy didn't receive any offers from major college programs. He went to play at a junior college before transferring to Marquette University. Considered a two-star recruit by 247Sports, he was listed as the No.127 junior college prospect in 2008. Constantly improving his stats during his three seasons at Marquette, Jimmy learned a lot with Buzz Williams, Marquette head coach who was tough on Jimmy because of how much he believed in him. That's why, as Butler said, "he introduced me to this whole hard work thing" and Buzz became like a father figure to Jimmy.
"No one saw the talent. And I didn'nt see it either. I didn't know he was going to be this good." Doc Rivers.
However, before the 2011, Butler was still not seen as a valuable asset for many coaches in the NBA. The problem he faced was that many coaches saw him through his story. As famous NBA Coach Doc Rivers said "He's maybe one of the few guys ever in the draft that people got lost in how good of a kid he was. And they couldn't see how good of a player he was. [...] No one saw the talent. And I didn't see it, either. I didn't know he was going to be this good". Jimmy Butler ended up being selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls.
As we can see, a lot has changed since the 2011 Draft. While Jimmy Butler was selected in the last position of the first round, 29 other players were selected before him. First, we tried to compare how Jimmy ranked compared to them in their last year in college before they got drafted (for those who went to College). Then, we compared their performance in their last full season to date in NBA. It is worth noting that many players don't even play anymore in the NBA (13 to be exact) whereas Jimmy is well settled in the NBA landscape.
A quick look at both graphs shows how much Butler improved in more than 10 years. In all the different areas, Jimmy got better, improving his shooting percentages while playing more minutes and even became one of the best when looking at stats like points, assists and steals. A brief glance at the first graph can offer a beginning of explanation as to why Jimmy wasn't selected by the NBA coaches before that 30th place but the second plot shows how much they missed by not believing in JB's potential.
Work, work and work
Life as a rookie is never easy, especially when you are not in the first selected players. In Chicago, limited opportunites were offered to Jimmy during his rookie year which saw the lockout shorten the 2011-12 season. But his profile and his desire to show his worth made him a regular player in the Bulls rotation taking part in the 82 games of the following season. His third season saw him become a starter and take on more responsabilities in the Bulls playmaking.
As we see on the plot, this third season marked a significant rise in terms of points scored but also in terms of assists and rebounds. For the people who followed the NBA back in the days, this coincided with the multiple injuries that Derrick Rose suffered. Rose, 2011 NBA MVP and Chicago Bulls point guard was a fundamental player in the Bulls system but due to these injuries someone had to step up and that's what Jimmy did. He was already known for his defensive skills but his offense was still a problem and needed work.
"For all his hardwork, Jimmy Butler was named the 2014-15 NBA Most Improved Player."
But Jimmy isn't the type of guy to retreat before difficulties. Jimmy Butler worked the same way he always has, he hit the gym, spent hours working on his shot and that translated into a rise in all his shooting percentage during the 2014-15 season, becoming one of Bulls' most trusted offensive weapons. Through this work, he managed to grasp his strenghts and focused on what makes him a better player like his ability to get to the free throw line and to shoot efficiently from midrange. For all his hardwork, he was named the 2014-15 NBA Most Improved Player and earned his first nomination for the NBA All-Star Game.
His role changed in the course of time depending on the teams he played in. When his time at Bulls ended, Jimmy was the leading scorer of the Bulls with 23.9 points and an established All-Star player in the Eastern Conference. However, his adventure in Windy City came to an end when Jimmy was traded to Minnesota in June, 2017 to join Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. His numbers definitely dropped as he had now a dominant center in the person of KAT with whom he had to share the ball. He had to adapt to a new style of play and a new team made of young players with a totally different mentality.
This trade prooved to be a bad fit for Butler as Thibodeau didn't manage to make them work together. This short saga ended with Jimmy leaving for Philadelphia back in the Eastern Conference to join Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid soon after the start of the 2018-19 season. Looking at statistics, we could think that Butler was getting back on his feet but in reality, 76ers were still not a good fit for Jimmy's mentality. The Sixers were good enough to go all the way in the Eastern Conference but were stopped by Kawhi Leonard game-winner which prevented Sixers from advancing to the Conference Finals and maybe the NBA Finals after that. In reality, Philly's coach, Brett Brown, and Jimmy Butler never really got along as Jimmy thought that "nothing got accomplished" and couldn't understand the coach's vision. Therefore, the Sixers worked out a sign and trade with the Miami Heat, sending Jimmy to Florida.
A leader in his own way
Now in Miami, Jimmy finds himself in the center of a project as the first playmaker of the team. With Pat Riley, president of the Miami Heat, Erik Spoelstra, head coach of the Heat, and a team built around him, Butler now has a environment in which he can be a true difference-maker when it matters. Many believed Butler made a grave mistake leaving the Sixers. However, Butler elevated the Miami Heat to one of the premier contenders in the Eastern Conference and transformed them into one of their best teams in recent years.
"To this point, Jimmy was unfortunately never surrounded by players who desired to win as much as he did."
Jimmy Butler has been one of the best players in the league since coming down to Miami, becoming the best version of a playmaker that he has been on the court across his entire career. Off the court, Butler's work ethic remains unmatched by any player in the league today. To this point, he was unfortunately never surrounded by players who desired to win as much as he did but, when he landed in Miami, he met a team with heart and a sense of duty never seen before in Jimmy's career. His main priority was and still is to make those around him better by any means necessary, and that's what he did with the Heat. Such commitment translated into his numbers on the field and that is what the following plots aim at showing.
Here we see different stats cumulated (Points scored, Assists, Rebounds, Free throws scored and Minutes played) for each team when Jimmy was there. When having a quick look at the Miami and Chicago plots similar conclusions can be drawn. Indeed, it's when Butler is the centerpiece of his team that he can live up to his potential. When having a different role where Butler doesn't have the ball in his hands or cannot play in his aggressive style like in Philadelphia or Minnesota, things tend to not work out. Butler needs to be the man in charge to be the best version of himself. He was born to be a leader and that's the role he had in Chicago in his final years and that he has now in Miami being the main man who led them to the 2020 NBA Finals.
Now in 2022, the Miami Heat have a guy that mirrors their philosophy in Jimmy Butler, a player that organizations would love to have in their own team, but hate to play against. At 32 years old, Butler remains on the search for his first championship ring, a ring he would love to win with the Heat but even if, in the end, Butler never wins a championship you can be sure that he did everything in his power to bring the trophy home.
No matter what happens in the next seaons of his career, Butler will be remembered as one of the best competitors the game ever had, a guy ready to leave it all on the court and who willed himself to greatness when no one believed in him.