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Jimmy Butler at Home

How is Jimmy Butler feeling these days, you ask?

“I’m smiling, man,” he says, seated at the corner of the dining room table in his new Philadelphia home, glass windows looking out past an uncovered pool. “I'm happy, man. That's what life is all about: being happy.”

At the beginning of this NBA season, Jimmy Butler was in a very different place. Not as in: an emotionally different place (though, that too, presumably). But as in: He lived in Minnesota, the star of a Timberwolves team he no longer wanted to play for. He’d been traded to Minny before last season, brought in from the Chicago Bulls to end the Timberwolves’ 14-year playoff hiatus. He did just that—along with making his fourth straight All-Star game—and now, before the 2018 season kicked off, he wanted the Wolves to trade him. Minnesota thought Minnesota was a fine home for Jimmy Butler, and couldn’t put together a trade they felt delivered the value necessary to justify shipping off their 29-year-old star.

For three weeks, the Jimmy-Minny hostage situation remained tense, playing out like a juicy Internet soap opera, memes and all. Some called him a diva. Others speculated that he had beef with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, the two young stars he’d been tasked with leading. And then, in his first practice with the team since news had surfaced that he wanted out, Butler perfectly executed what would become—thanks to a Woj bomb—his heel turn. Scrimmaging with the third string players, he allegedly beat up on the Wolves’ starters, even going so far as to tell at Minnesota’s onlooking GM Scott Layden, “You fucking need me. You can’t win without me.” That afternoon, he sat down with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols for an interview he says was scheduled long before that day’s explosion. During that conversation, Butler said he didn’t believe the situation could be fixed. And it wasn’t. About a month later, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.

So, back to the dining room in Jimmy Butler’s sprawling Philadelphia’s house on a recent, bitterly cold Saturday, after back-to-back 38-point performances with his new team. Butler—wearing a gray sweatsuit, feet nestled into white Air Max 270’s, signature hair like stalagmites on the roof of his 6’8” frame—takes a seat at the long wooden table and mentions that he’s been reading Ego is the Enemy.

“I’m learning,” he says. “That’s why I’m reading. Ain’t nobody perfect. I’m the furthest thing from it. But I feel like if I read about it, I can be better at it. Now, will I change? Who knows? Have I changed? Damn right. Everybody does. Is it for the better? I believe so. Does everybody like it? No. Do I care? Fuck no. But I am who I am.”


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GQ: How would you describe your headspace right now, and how does it compare to where you were at at the beginning of the season?
Jimmy Butler: I'm happy. I think that's the biggest thing. All the negative energy that is around the world, or around the Internet at any certain time, I'm not even worried about any of it. I hardly ever am. I just smile. I wake up, love doing what I do, love being around the group of guys that we have, the organization, my guys that I have around me consistently. I'm just enjoying life. I am legit happy, man. The sun's out. It's not gloomy. It's not freezing cold. No snow on the ground.

Your work ethic is kind of legendary. Why does it bother you so much when people don't put their best effort into something?
Because I know when you put all your effort into something it's gonna cover up for so many mistakes. If you're playing with effort, you care. I'm not the most talented guy. I do have God-given talent, don't get me wrong. But you got some guys out there that just got it. God was like, “You're the one”... I just think I'm living proof of what hard work can get you. So why wouldn't you want to work hard? To be better? To be greater? I get lost in that.

Everybody tells me, “Jimmy, not everybody's wired like you.” But I just don't understand it. I will tell somebody, “Oh, yeah, you're right.” But then in the back of my head I'll be like, “Fuck that.” I don't get it. And I never will. I love the work. I really do. Not in a million years could you tell me I would be in this damn position. That's all I know: work to make sure that I stay here cause I'm not going back to who I used to be, man, worried about how I grew up. Me and my guys, we never have to worry about that. As long as we work—to the best of our ability, as hard as we can—we're not going back to that.

In your past there have been some moments—in Chicago, one particular loss when you and D-Wade spoke about the team not trying hard enough—
Damn, that was a long time ago. Go ahead. I know what you're talking about.

Then there were some rumors in Minnesota about Wiggins and whether or not he worked hard enough. How much truth is there to the notion that you are very hard on teammates you feel don't work hard enough, to the point of alienating them?
First of all, I don't alienate anybody. I talk to everybody. You gonna get the same me. So you can't say I'm different to this guy than I am to that guy. I'm just the honest type. And the truth hurts sometimes. If I'm in the wrong, and you tell me, I get pissed off about it. But if it's the truth, it's the truth. And I know if I could have handled a situation better. Like you talk about the Chicago situation. Was that the best way to handle it? No. Did I apologize for it? No. But I think I could have handled it better. I will say that.

You get me in a competitive environment, I'm passionate, emotional, I don't care what word you want to put on it. I just want everybody to show the effort. I just want everybody to care, when it comes to basketball. I just want everybody to want to win at all costs. And I feel like sometimes that's not the case. And I think that if you don't put winning first, you'll have a problem with me. Because I'll do whatever it takes to win.

[Butler picks up his phone] This is [Minnesota Timberwolves’] Tyus Jones that's texting me. That's my dawg. I still talk to a lot of my former teammates man. And it's funny cause I'm such a "bad" guy but if you know me and you know my heart, everybody just laughs. Somebody's gotta make something up to get everybody's attention, to read it and believe what they're gonna believe. But like I said, I don't pay attention to it man. If you're around me enough and you know me? I am who I am.

How would you handle the Minnesota situation differently?
I think I did everything the correct way. I really think I did. For one, I didn't really go into the media and say anything out of the norm. I didn't even talk to the media. Me and Rach had that interview set up three weeks beforehand. And I don't even want to get into the whole thing. But nobody would have ever known what was said in practice, or none of that, if somebody wouldn't have told the media. I didn't tell the media. The Woj bomb came and everybody's like “He did this, he said that, this happened.” So I'm like, well now I gotta talk about it. We wouldn't be sitting here talking about it [if] somebody hadn't said what I said, and what happened in practice. And to me it's like, why would you go tell that anyways? Word-for-word what I said, and there's no cameras in the gym? That's just crazy. Like why aren't y'all going and saying what happened in practice now? That's the part that got me. It's like, somebody may be out to get me a little bit.

Were you surprised about the reaction to that practice? Because I feel like you hear a lot of stories of guys who are like that. I'm thinking of Kobe and MJ—and, granted, they're in the pantheon, no disrespect to you—but they're crazy in practice. So were you surprised it was such a negative reaction?
Nah, the game has changed. The way people look at the game has changed. The way people look at people that act a certain way—it's all changed. That's okay. It just happened. I didn't mean for it to go that way. It just happened. It's crazy cause I remember it, but I don't really remember it. I was really just going. So it's really all kind of a blur.

How did you decide to play with the third-string team?
I had a conversation with somebody and they were like, "You're gonna practice with the starters." And I was like, "Look, man, I'm just getting back. Let's just ease in to this whole thing. They're grooving right now. D-Rose is playing phenomenal." He still is. Love him for doing that. I want him to be so successful. I want KAT, I want Wigs, I want everybody to be successful. I was like, “Yo, they're rolling right now.” Obviously, I was feeling a type of way because we all know what I wanted to happen. So I was like, “I'll come off the bench if I want to.” And the individual says, "No you're gonna practice with the starters." And I was like, "No. Now I'm practicing with the third string."

I was already on half rebel mode anyway so it just fit, and it just happened. But there's so much more to the story that nobody knows that I'm not gonna say. I might tell you after the mic's turned off but there's much more. They only told you the real juicy parts of the story. They hyped it up to make it sound way bigger than it really was. Let's just say that.

Were you whooping their ass, though?
We won.

You keep in touch with your teammates from Minny?
Yeah. I talk to some of the guys from Chicago [too]. When you realize that this is a business, that's when you respect what goes on. And it's never ever personal. When I was in Chicago, I took some things personal and then I learned. I read about it, I talked to people that's been through it before and they were like, “Yo, relax, it's a business.” And I was like, damn you're right. And once I accepted that, I'm cool. Im cool.

I'm going to push back a little bit, because when you were talking to Rachel you said it wasn't about the money, it was about not being appreciated. How true is that? How much was it about business and how much was it about not being appreciated by the Timberwolves?
I think it was a little bit of business, but it is about being wanted and being appreciated. I don't like talking about Minnesota, I really try to leave it in the past. Let's just say: there are some things that could've happened, that we both talked about, and at the end of the day, I felt like I was told one thing and something else happened. I'll leave it at that. I'm not going to get into too much detail about it because I still got a lot of respect for a lot of people in their organization, as everybody knows.

But it just didn't work out, man. It's all good. It really is. I want them to be successful. I want Wigs, KAT, Tyus, be the best you could be. I don't wish any ill will on nobody. Nobody. I pay attention to them. They're playing extremely well right now. Good for them. If they're happy, I'm cool… I want y'all to be happy, do what you do, win as many games as possible, make as much money as you can, because everybody got a short window with this thing.

One of the quotes that came out from practice that day was, "You fucking need me." And, like you say, the Timberwolves have been doing well since. How do you feel about those comments now?
I feel great about the comments. Fuck you mean? I feel great about the comments. You should be trying to win. I hope you're trying to prove that you don't need me, so it's making everybody do what is needed to win on any given night. I like it. If that's the type of shit that brings out the best in you, you're welcome. You're welcome. Just be the best and win as many games as possible. I think they're doing that right now. I want them to continue to win. I really do. Because Jeff [Teague] has never missed a playoff. I want Derrick to know that he's a top player in this league. Same with KAT. Same with Wigs. Taj [Gibson], all of those guys. We're still all good. We're still close. We still talk. Like I said, I'm glad that they're winning. I am. I'm winning, too.

Well, you're in the Eastern Conference.
Man, this team will keep up with any team in the West, that we got right now. So I don't want to hear nothin about being in the Eastern Conference. We'll keep up with anybody in the West.

You were talking about learning from Chicago. What did you learn from this episode in Minnesota?
Some people are gonna love you, for no reason. I just like that guy! His hair is cool. He's 6'7"3/4ths—6'8" on a good day. He's with Jordan. He wears my favorite number. He's from the same state I'm from. He goes to the college my daughter goes to. And the flip to that, you've got people that are going to dislike you for the exact same reasons, [or] for a different reason.

So you realize: just continue to be who you are. Do what you wanna do to make yourself happy. Don't harm nobody in the process and try to be the best human being that you could possibly be, knowing that people are gonna talk… You know who you are to the core and you know what you're doing. I think I'm doing the right stuff.

One of the criticisms that's been lobbed is that wherever Jimmy goes, at some point it becomes about Jimmy. Or some people say, "He's a diva." How fair of a criticism is that?
Well, wherever I've been, what's that? Two places maybe? How can you say wherever I go, when I've only been to two places—like, if it happened in five different places, yeah, okay. But I got traded from Chicago. I don't think that it was about me in Minnesota. I don't know how anybody could possibly say that. When you realize, like I said, that this is a business. I'm going to do what's best for me. I gave my all out there on the floor, just like I do now. So to say that it's about me? I don't think so. It's about winning. I'll tell you that. So if you're first thing is winning and you want to win big, I'm all for that. If you don't, then it may look like it's about me because all I fucking care about is winning.

Just a few minutes ago we were talking about how people tell you not everyone's wired like you, and you might need to deliver the message in a different way. And you hear that, but you can't do it. Now, with the Sixers, you have a core of young dudes who are just learning how to play and you're the leader on that team, in a lot of ways. Have you thought about how you communicate that message of "We gotta fucking win" in a different way?
You know how I communicate it? The way that everybody else in the locker room does. Straightforward: "We're not fucking doing our job." "You need to get inhere and fucking rebound." Everybody's talking to each other knowing that it may not be the nicest way to say it, but ain't nobody like, “Man, he's talking me sideways.” Nah. In the heat of the moment, the game’s close and we gotta get you to understand what you have to do.

JJ [Redick] comes to me all the time: “Yo, you cannot fucking do that.” I was like, "You're right." I'm so used to doing that. Same thing with Coach: “Stop doing that on defense.” Ben came into the locker room the other day against Detroit: “We ain't playing with no goddam energy. We’re gonna end up losing this game by 40 if we don't go out in the second half and pick it up.” But it's like a “Let's go, let's go, we don't have time to waste.”

But it's because everybody knows that don't nobody got no agenda except for winning… And we legit want everybody on our roster to be successful. That's what makes it so fun. Winning does, too. So lemme put this out there: if we would've started out undefeated in Minnesota, you wouldn't be asking me none of this shit. None of it. Wouldn't even be a big deal. “Look what he done did. Maybe he's right. Da da da.” But because we didn't win, it's a problem, it's a problem, it's a problem. Now that I'm winning here, am I problem? No. It's just: you're winning.

Would you still be there, in Minnesota, if you guys were winning?
Man, to tell you the truth, I don't even remember what I had for breakfast lunch or dinner in Minnesota, so I ain't even going back there.

You were saying before that you think the game has changed a little bit in terms of not being able to have that hardcore, competitive practice. In what ways do you feel like it's changed—what I'm really trying to ask you, Jimmy, is if you think Millennials like us are soft?
I don't like the word soft. I don't like nothing affiliated with that word… Can you think if we was playing back in the day and Shaq just got up, dunked on somebody, and pushed them to the ground—like he's done multiple times in his career? I think the Internet blows everything up times 1000. This guy, look at him, who does he think he is? Nobody's saying that about Shaq back in the day.

For one, he's perhaps the most dominant player ever to play the game. You could not stop Shaquille O'Neal. But when he would do stuff like that, he would let you know: “This is my shit. Ain't nothing that you can do about it. I'm going to do whatever I want to do at any point in time, and there's nothing that you can do about it.” That's what he was getting across whenever he was doing what he was doing. And everybody was like, “Yeah, we ride with that. We like that! Hey you, you're not Shaq, but you see what Shaq did? You need to do that.”

Back then, because of no Internet and everything wasn't out [there], no social media, you're not judged as harshly and as critically. You could do stuff, and it's not that big of a deal. You're competing. Now everybody has the outlet to be able to say whatever they want to say, and get people to read whatever they wanted to say, and maybe buy in whatever they wanted to say. That's what I mean by times are different.

There are a lot of CEOs who say if it's not hard, it's not bringing out the best in you. How true is that for you? Does it have to be hard to bring out your best self? And how fun is it allowed to be?
To me, the most difficult tasks are the funnest ones. Because you gotta put everything you got into it. And it's fun because you gotta figure out a way to make it work. That's what makes you want it that much more. Not too many things in my life have been easy, handed to me. I always went and got it. It's just like: “Here we go again. Another obstacle. somebody telling me I can't do something. Alright. Seen this picture. Read this story. A billion times. This is another time.”

So I start smiling, salivating, licking my chops. I'm going to get this. That drives me because if something's hard, whenever you get it, it means that much more. If it's just given to you, it's like whatever. Nothing's free. You gotta go and get it. You gotta work for everything you want. Everything that you need, I should say. People will give you things that you want. But everything that you need, you gotta go and work for it.

Other than Ego is the Enemy, what are some books that have best helped you understand why you are the way you are, or that have given you the best lessons?
Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. I really enjoyed When Bad Things Happen to Good People. I think that The Alchemist is a great book: what you want is really right here the entire time. You just keep going and going and going, maybe you're getting further and further and further away from it, but then you get right back to it in a heartbeat. I think that was what that book taught me. Then the book The Precious Present. Basically: Live for right now. I do that to the best of my ability. and then, other than that, I talk to a lot of people. I ask a lot of questions. I know cause you think cause I went to The Marquette University, I'm probably one of the smartest people in the world, but believe it or not, I'm not. [laughs] There are a lot of people who are way smarter than me, and I'm fortunate enough to be able to talk to them, pick their brain. So I do that.

Who has given you the best advice?
I talk to Mark Wahlberg all the time. And he's super, super successful. So I'm just asking how. What the hell drives you to keep doing what you do? He just be spitting knowledge man. That's who I'm going to the Army/Navy game with [today]. Dude's been an incredible mentor for me. Can't put into words what he's done for me. It's crazy because a lot of things that I do, I picked up from him: waking up, working out early as hell, going to sleep early, reading, eating right, he does it all. Whenever you work as hard as he does, are there enough hours in the day? I don't know. He gets it in every second of every minute of every hour. That dude's an animal.

Clearly you have a tight knit family here. What's the quickest way to lose your respect and find your way out of the family?
I don't do the lying. [And] we’re not really allowed to watch basketball in the house, we don't talk basketball, because I live that every single day. Let's talk soccer, let's talk football, let's talk cricket, we'll do anything except for basketball. Obviously I go put in the work and they're around, but outside of that, when we're in here, this is the safe haven. We'll go over there and play chess. Checkers. We'll play kickball in the living room. We don't care. No basketball.

And then I don't do the "You're Jimmy Buckets." I don't even like calling myself that. Yo, my friend wants you to sign this for him. Come on, man. You're in my house. Leave that outside. I'm just a normal dude from Texas… That's why we stay in the house. Because as long as I'm in here, I'm not a basketball player. I'm just a normal dude. The second I step outside of it though, it's like: okay, you gotta be ready to flip that switch. But then as soon as I walk back into the house, I'm not taking a picture with none of these ugly ass dudes in my kitchen. [laughs] ain't signing shit for none of these dudes. Because I'm not that here.

The last time we talked was at last year’s All-Star Weekend. Why didn't you play in the game?
Because I knew something was wrong with my body. I did. And what happened after I came out of the All-Star game, the very next game?

That’s when you tore your meniscus?
I knew something was wrong with my body. I was telling them, something's not right. I know my body. I put in enough time, I put in enough work, and once again, everybody could say whatever they wanted to say, I knew better. And I wasn't gonna jeopardize it. And so after All-Star, I went up to Vancouver and me and my boys were in the gym and working out. I'm just pushing off and I'm like something's not right, so we rest all the way up until the Houston game on the 23rd—it's crazy, I remember the day—talking to my trainer, I'm like, can't say no to going out there against James Harden, though. I live for that. Went out there and got hurt.

You've said before that you like controversy. How true is that today?
I love it.

What does it do for you?
Get me hype. It makes me want to prove a point. I think now it's I want to prove myself right. It used to be I used to do things just—Oh, you said I couldn't do it? I'm gonna show your ass that I can. Now I look at it as: alright, whatever, I know what I'm capable of, so I'm gonna prove to myself that, man, you can do this. Controversy is just makes you step up a level, two levels, three levels. And on that stepping up, everybody's looking at you like, “Man, he just took it up. You know what? Let me get up there.” So everybody's gonna follow you. Controversy, right [or] wrong, if it's going to lead you to be the best and be great, I'm all for it.

This interview has been edited and condensed.