Jimmy Butler’s former teammate with the Bulls and basketball legend, Dwyane Wade, has spoken about the new home Butler has found at Golden State and why he thinks it’s the perfect marriage.
“First of all, it’s a new relationship. We all know (what it’s like) when you get into a new relationship,” Wade said, joking about the ‘honeymoon phase’ of a relationship on 7Pm in Brooklyn. “They’re in the beginning of a relationship. I think Jimmy, he’s different than what you’re used to for [Golden State], but it actually fits perfectly, because there’s so much attention on Steph [Curry] on the perimeter.
“And now Jimmy gets to play that space down low a lot; you see Draymond [Green] hits him a lot in the paint, etcetera.”
He added, “This is the way Jimmy Butler loves to play basketball,” Wade said. “Like, Jimmy can go off – he scored [56] points in a playoff game in Miami (vs. the Milwaukee Bucks in Round 1 of the 2023 playoffs) – but when I go back to practice in Chicago with Jimmy, and when they talk about Jimmy playing with the second unit in Minnesota (Timberwolves), this is how Jimmy plays – 15 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists – when he’s not looking to necessarily average 25-plus [points] a game. So to be 36 years old, this is the perfect role for him.”
Wade went on to explain how the pressure and workload is largely off Butler, who now gets to play second fiddle to Steph Curry, rather than grinding hard every night on long minutes like he did with the Heat.
“If he stays in Miami, he has to be the star. He goes to Golden State, he does not have to be the star,” Wade said. “Shout out to Jimmy Butler for putting himself in a position that he can end his career the way he wanted to, and he got himself out of a situation where a lot would’ve been on him. Like, he wouldn’t have gotten that [two-year, $121 million contract extension] in Miami, possibly because you got to go out and average 25-plus, and you got to take us to this level for us to pay you as a star.
“Now, he moves to second, third and some nights, fourth option, where he can just be Jimmy Butler in his career [over] the last few years, doing the things he really, really does very well, and that’s all the things in the game of basketball. I love it. I love the fact that I get to see the Jimmy that I know at this point in his career.”
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