For years, Jimmy Butler was labeled as a "diva", a "locker room cancer", and a "drama queen", all because he called out his coaches in the first three teams that he played for. But what people didn't realize at that time is that he wanted to win. He isn't self-centered, he didn't want to get possession of the basketball all to himself; he simply wanted to win.
Chicago Bulls
When he played for the Chicago Bulls from 2012 to 2017, despite the Bulls compiling a 276-200 record and making the playoffs in all but one year in that span, Butler called out the Bulls' coaching staff, led by Tom Thibodeau in the first four seasons and Fred Hoiberg in the latter two. Ever since, the Bulls have not made the playoffs, compiling a 71-158 record, and fired two of their head coaches in the span from 2018 to 2020: Hoiberg and Jim Boylen.
Butler was right about the Bulls' coaching staff: First, the Bulls' front office was dissatisfied with Thibodeau because of a lack of offensive flow to match their good defensive play. There also was tension between Thibodeau and then-general manager Gar Forman and executive vice president John Paxson following their 2015 playoff loss to an injury-plagued Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Second, in March 2017, ESPN ranked Hoiberg as the worst head coach in the NBA. The Bulls failed to meet their preseason expectations in the 2016 season under Hoiberg, and were perceived underachievers after blowing a 2-0 series lead against the 1st-seeded Boston Celtics in the 2017 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Before the Minnesota Timberwolves got Butler, they had a 13-year streak of not making the playoffs, and finished with a 31-51 record in the 2017 season. After making a trade with the Bulls for Butler, along with the rights to Justin Patton, where they sent Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the rights to Lauri Markkanen, the Timberwolves would go on to end their playoff drought and make the playoffs as the 8th-seeded team in 2018, achieving a 47-35 record. They would only win one game in their Western Conference Quarterfinals series against the 1st-seeded Houston Rockets.
Ironically enough, the Tinberwolves' head coach in that season was Tom Thibodeau. Not only would Butler call him out again, but he would also call out the work ethic. In the 2018 offseason, just before training camp, he would request a trade from the team, indicating that he would not re-sign with them in the 2019 offseason. The only two options the Timberwolves had were to lose him for something or to lose him for nothing. He only appeared in 10 of the first 13 games in the 2019 season with them, as he was traded, along with Patton, to the Philadelphia 76ers, for Jerryd Bayless, Robert Covington, Dario Saric, and a 2022 2nd round pick.
Ever since, the Timberwolves have missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons, first finishing 36-46 in 2019, 11th in the conference, and fired Thibodeau. Ryan Saunders would take over as their head coach, but they would finish with the 3rd-worst record in the NBA, at 19-45, and traded forward Andrew Wiggins to the Golden State Warriors for point guard D'Angelo Russell. In the end, Butler was right about the Timberwolves' coaching and work ethic.
Philadelphia 76ers
Before the 76ers got Butler, they only made the playoffs once in the last six seasons: During the 2018 season as the 3rd-seeded team in the East. Despite beating the Miami Heat in 5 games in the East Quarterfinals, they were eliminated in the East Semifinals by the Celtics in 5 games. They had 109 combined wins in the five seasons prior and were not a championship team. But when they got Butler, they had championship ambitions as they also had the likes of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, J. J. Redick, and trade acquisition Tobias Harris.
The Sixers would finish the season as the 3rd-seeded team in the East, with a 51-31 record. They beat the Brooklyn Nets in 5 games in the East Quarterfinals, but would lose in 7 games to the Toronto Raptors in the East Semifinals off of Kawhi Leonard's buzzer-beater. Butler would call out head coach Brett Brown, in which the relationship between the two soured out. Yes, every coach struggles with motivation, including when it comes to the best players in the league. Good coaches find ways to reinvent the message of a team in order for the team to break through. The coaches Butler called out (Thibodeau, Hoiberg, and Brown) aren't high-end coaches.
After Butler left the Sixers for the Miami Heat via a four-team sign-and-trade deal in which the Sixers would get Josh Richardson, they would finish the next season as the 6th-seeded team in the East, with a 43-30 record. Before the season's pause, they were 29-2 at home, but 10-24 on the road. Home-court advantage was practically meaningless during the pause because every team, including the Sixers, was playing in a bubble site without fans. The Sixers would get swept by the Celtics in the East Quarterfinals. It didn't help that Simmons suffered an injury before the series started.
Butler was right about the Sixers' coaching: Brown would take a business-like approach to the game, which is not a good sign. The playoff loss against the Celtics led to general manager Elton Brand declaring The Process as a failure. It had nothing to do with the players, but it had to do with bad managerial decisions that set up the Sixers for more failure. And it's not just Brand, it was a contribution of mistakes made from him and then-GMs Sam Hinkie and Bryan Colangelo.
Miami Heat
Before the Heat landed Butler in the sign-and-trade deal, they narrowly missed the playoffs the season prior, with a 39-43 record in what would be Dwyane Wade's final season in the NBA. The Heat were viewed as a sleeper team heading into the 2020 NBA season, with the additions of Butler and Tyler Herro, and the breakouts of Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson.
The Heat finished the season with a 44-29 record and as the 5th-seeded team in the Eastern Conference. They would make a surprising run to the NBA Finals, sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the East Quarterfinals, taking out the highly-favored Milwaukee Bucks in 5 games in the East Semifinals, and eliminating the Celtics in 6 games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite losing in the NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in 6 games, there were no complaints from Butler about coaching or management. In the end, Butler finally got what he wanted: A good coach and a solid supporting cast around him.
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