Jimmy Butler came into this season with a very good reputation as the type of player who works his tail off to be as good as possible and someone you would want on your team. Still nobody is questioning his work ethic but his rise to stardom has reportedly caused a bit of dissension in the Chicago Bulls locker room. Teammates and the organization reportedly do not like the way he has handled his newfound stardom which he has worked extremely hard to attain and his leadership has come into question.
A little more than a week ago Butler said after a loss that he thought new head coach Fred Hoiberg needed to coach the team harder which had people thinking he was missing old head coach Tom Thibodeau but that may not be the case. After last season was over Butler was ready for Thibodeau to be fired, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago.
Friedell talked about this on the Posting Up podcast and in his appearance he said a lot of interesting things (including that the Bulls should consider trading Butler) but the Thibodeau thing might be the most surprising. The Bulls got rid of Thibodeau partially because they thought he was coaching the team too hard and playing his players too many minutes. Hoiberg is an opposite type of personality as he is more laid back so it seemed like, when Butler made the comments, he was missing Thibodeau but he was likely one of three people that blasted Thibodeau in exit interviews last season, according to Dan Bernstein of CBS Sports.
"The relationship was broken. It was gone, and I've been told repeatedly even recently, that Jimmy was one of those guys who was like, "Hey, you know what? I'm done with this I'm done with this," said Friedell.
Butler has become a great player in the NBA as he is one of the best two-way guards in the league and is likely headed to his second straight All-Star game this season but his reputation has taken a hit. Butler is already being questioned for his ability to be the leader of a team and now he might be heading down the road of not being able to get along with coaches which is not a place any player ever wants to go. Luckily for Butler he already got his money, in the form of a maximum contract this offseason, so he doesn't have to worry about that but he would be wise to try and keep the attention on him on the court as opposed to off the court like it has been recently, for his sake and the teams sake.
