Jimmy Butler's relationship with Derrick Rose has been a major topic of conversation this offseason as Butler has emerged as a star and they are both alpha dog type players. Butler and Rose reportedly had beef last year when Rose returned from injury but both players downplayed it. Now there is a report out there that Butler considers Rose a friend but he doesn't respect his work ethic, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Butler is known as one of the hardest working players in the NBA and new Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg has noticed as much since joining the team calling him "unbelievable." Since Butler works harder than almost anyone else his lack of respect for Rose's work ethic could just come from the fact that Rose doesn't work as hard as him, but then again neither does anybody else.
The source who started this story was a former member of the Bulls and he said "In Butler's mind, Rose was considered the face of the franchise, and if the face of the franchise wasn't busting his butt in practice every day, especially last season, what was the message to the rest of the team?"
Butler also reportedly didn't like Rose's answer when he was asked if Butler has become a superstar. Rose said "I think it's going to take a little minute for Jimmy to get there." Since then Butler has been working his tail off and becoming a leader for this Bulls team by trying to get everybody else to follow his lead.
Earlier this offseason Butler said there was no beef and that this story would go away once the team starts winning but it seems as though the two superstars are not on the same page with a few things. Rose is now out again after fracturing his orbital bone and may have to miss regular season time while Butler signed a five year $90 million contract this offseason and should be viewed as the star of the team.
Once Rose comes back these two will share a backcourt together and we will see how it works out with two go-to-guys on the court. Butler is likely right that winning should make the talks of beef between the two stars go away but if for some reason the pairing doesn't work out then we will find out the truth about their relationship.
