The Bill Simmons Podcast - Ep. 106: Jimmy Butler

Episode Date: June 16, 2016

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons brings on two-time NBA All-Star and three-time NBA All-Defensive team honoree Jimmy Butler to discuss being a late-blooming draft steal, Tom Thibodeau's raw deal with the Bulls (15:00), guarding LeBron vs. guarding Steph (22:00), the importance of the 3-pointer (29:00), his personal beefs (35:00), dispelling trade rumors (46:00), and playing for Team USA in Rio (52:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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out. And we are rolling with Jimmy Butler right now. Jimmy Butler in the house. You're in the news. I'm here. You're officially an NBA star because you're in fake trade rumors. Oh, wow. Congratulations. Thank you.

It feels great to be wanted and talked about. What's that like? What's that like to be in a situation that you probably like? You're a young guy. It's weird. You just signed a big contract, and now all of a sudden you're in fake trade rumors. It's, I don't know. It came out of nowhere, I guess.

It's funny to hear people talk about it. You know, some people want me on this team. Some people want me on that team. Some people want me on that team. It hurts my feelings because nobody really cares what I want. You've been pretty quiet, right? You haven't said that much. Yeah, no. I'm a quiet guy. Sometimes I wasn't quiet

at some points this season. I'm really a quiet guy. I just do my work and hush up. All right, so walk me through it. You're just hanging out on a Monday. You get a text from somebody like, yo, Minnesota trade. Not a text from somebody.

I got probably about 30 texts. The Instagram feed's blowing up. Twitter's blowing up. Phone calls. And what are you doing as this, you're just hanging out? Like what's going on? You're just having an average day.

I'm in the middle of my nap. gotta i gotta get my nap in we wake up so early and train yeah that i'm in the middle of my nap so when i wake up and check the phone that my brothers are running around the house oh my gosh minnesota never like and so it's it's a lot going on and is there like do you get confused and think wait was i traded oh no this is a totally weird internet fake trade. That's not actually going to happen. What's crazy is that we try not to pay attention to it, but you kind of have to pay attention to when everybody's texting or calling your phone.

But that's something that's kind of really out of our control. When I say our, I mean myself, my brothers, because they go with me everywhere, as you can see. They live with me everywhere, as you can see. They live with me. So we can't control that. All we can do is continue to get better and produce on the floor. Very good polished answer. You sounded like a polished NBA star. I'm practicing my politically correct answers right now. Yeah, that was really good.

It seems like every summer there's always like six or seven stars that just get thrown into, you know, this guy and this guy. And this year it's like Boogie Cousins and it's Kevin Love and you're in there. And I'm trying to think who else. It doesn't matter. You just name some guys that I'm in great company with. Quality guys. You know, no matter what, it brings a smile to my face that you can say my name in the same sentence with the marcus great year it was all right it could have done better but it's okay well you had you had a good

year the team wasn't that great but you had um it's interesting the last two years the league shifted specifically in your favor and your position and perimeter guys in general have become so much more valuable than that that they weren't before. But now it's like, you know, everybody wants to go small. Everybody wants flexible guys who can guard multiple guys on the perimeter. And you're kind of all of that stuff. And yet you fell almost.

Did you fall? You fell to the tail end of the first round. Yep. Last pick, 30th. When I was in college at Marquette with Buzz Williams, I didn't get to play guard. I didn't really get to dribble the ball too much, so I was used to playing the four. So you were like an undersized stretch four in college? Were you underneath? What were you? like five guards at Marquette. And so I didn't know anything but to rebound and pass it to the good guards that we had on our team. And it's crazy how the role kind of reversed.

Now I'm a guard, and now people pass me the ball. That's like a really dumb reason for you to fall 15 spots lower than you should have gone. I wasn't that good in college. Now that I go back and look at it, I wasn't bad by a long shot. Don't get me wrong. But I wasn't that good. Did I have a position?

No. Did I really work on my game? No. I just played hard. I think that's what got me over and I know how to play a little bit of defense. That helped as well. The Celtics passed on you. My team. Yes. A lot of teams did. But my team was in the range where you probably should have gone.

And I probably blocked out of my mind who we took. But you probably remember because you're a competitor. Of course. Who did we take? Juwan Johnson. Oh, that was the Marshawn Brooks-Juan Johnson trade. Yeah. That was terrible.

Why did we do that? And what's crazy is I thought I was going to end up with y'all, you know, God being from Marquette. Exactly. I was like, oh, yeah, I'm ready. And, yeah, but I'm not mad. I went 30th, you know, to Chicago, and it's a good place for me right now. Well, I remember reading your story.

Obviously, I'm reading the draft, trying to irrationally like these guys that I've barely seen on TV. And I'm watching YouTube clips and stuff like that. And your story really resonated just because you had to persevere through so much. Those are usually the guys that make it in the NBA. The guys, because really, at some point, everybody who makes the NBA is talented to varying degrees. But it's like the work ethic and the fact that right now it's mid-June and you're getting up. What time are you getting up every day?

5, 4, 5, 6. Yeah. I don't think the whole league is doing that. I think that the guys that make it are the guys that work. You're working incredibly hard. And I think other than anything else, you've got to be a good person to make it in this league because everybody's watching.

I really do believe that. That's not a politically correct answer. I really believe that because you see people that go out and they support you, whether they buy your shoe, they buy your jersey. They want to see you play basketball. So it's your job to put on a show for them. So that's why you work. I think that's one of the reasons I do what I do. What is it about Marquette? Marquette and Michigan State seem to be the two schools that keep producing these overachiever, pseudo late bloomer type of guys over and over again. What is it about those two schools? I don't know. I think they just pick basketball players, guys that can really do it all, that play hard, that were probably

overlooked under the radar, and they bring the most out of them. Obviously, what Draymond is doing right now is incredible. But you look at who was at Marquette, whether it be myself, Jay Crowder, Wesley, Matthews, just guys that just played hard got there, stayed four years did what they were supposed to do and now look where we are in the NBA and the three of you had

weirdly similar stories you went way later in the draft than in retrospect you should have you weren't great right away you had to kind of work at it and you kind of bring similar things to the table just in terms of hard-nosed D. Although Wesley got hurt.

His D slipped a little bit last year. He'll come back. That's a two-year injury. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's how it happens. I mean, Crowder is my favorite Celtic. I thought he was, all due respect to Isaiah, but I thought Crowder was the MVP of the team. He hurt his ankle, I think, in March.

It was never quite the same. It's not like they would have won the team. He hurt his ankle I think in March. It was never quite the same. It's not like they would have won the finals, but he was so important because he could guard anyone on the court. And when I see him... He can't guard me. Let's just get that out of the way. Is that true? Jay Crowder cannot guard me. What happens when he tries to guard you? I'm sure there's some clips out there somewhere, Jay.

I'm so sorry for you. Oh, gosh. You just beat him off the dribble? No, I'm just playing. Did you try to take him side to side? I did a few times. Oh, gosh. You just beat him off the dribble? No, I'm just playing. Try to take him side to side? I did a few times. And one here and there. You know, nothing major. Did you, like, how close were you guys?

We were really close. I think we got closer after Marquette. Yeah. I played with Jay one year. Yeah. I only played with him one year. So it was like right whenever I was getting ready to leave, he was coming in. And then he really showed he could play

because after I left, he won like Big East Player of the Year. They did all that. He was a player. But did you take it personally when J.R. Smith elbowed him?

I take it personally. J. is a big boy. J. will get him back at some point. I don't think you should say get him back. Well, if it comes,

if the situation happens. Next little hard foul. I think a hard foul is due to get them back. Two wrongs don't make a right. We know that. Two wrongs don't make a right.

I didn't like when J.R. Smith did that. What's the worst thing anyone's done to you in a basketball court? Have you ever been really cheap-shotted? Not really. You've been in a fight? In a fight. Or almost fight? You've been in a hold-me-back fight, as Jalen Rose would say?

There's no such thing as that. Ain't nobody going to swing on anybody nowadays. But my thing is, if I'm on your team and we do get into altercation, don't grab me. Grab the other player. Because if he slaps me, then I automatically take a L. It's like you grab me, he slap me, and then you're not going to let me go. Right. So now I'm on ESPN.

Oh, my gosh, Jimmy just got smacked like this. It's an automatic L. Grab the other player. Let me get me a W. Let me smack him. And then you continue to hold him. Don't grab your own player. That's what happened to the legend, Larry Bird, when he fought Dr. J.

And Moses and Barkley came from behind and held Larry Bird's arms back while Dr. J repeatedly punched him. And then it looked like he lost the fight, and it's like, well, he had two guys holding his arms back. No. You don't lose that fight. He did lose. That's a forfeit.

He lost, but it could have been avoided. Yeah, I don't really hang on the legend. There's been a lot of nut punching in the playoffs this year. We have, like, one a year, and this year it's just been a preponderance of it have you ever either taken a nut punch or accidentally given one out or where have you ever been involved in a nut punch controversy uh no no i don't think no you just don't that's that's one part of the game you don't do punch somebody like in the head or something not in the not in the nuts like That's just bad.

It just hurts. Yeah. And you have to, there has to be a timeout coming because that player can't do anything when he got hit in the nuts. Have you followed the finals? Are you watching these games? Not really? Not really.

Are you one of those weirdos who can't watch the games if you're not in it? Not because of that. Because I don't watch the game because I consume myself with it all year long. Even right now when I start training, I have to watch film and I'm on the court that when it's not time to play basketball, I'm not playing basketball. I mean, I know what's going on, obviously. Like, I know the series count. I know LeBron and Kyrie just have 41 apiece.

I know what's going on, but I don't sit down and actually watch the game. Dude, when you guys, you only play the Warriors twice a year. But when you're watching, when you're going against that and you're watching what they do and how they stretch the court out like they do and they're just going for threes all the time, which is just so different than what I grew up with and something that's changed the last 10 years. Do you almost, like what's your thought process going into a game like that where you just know they're going to play different than everyone else in the league?

You know they're going to make shots. That's one thing that you have to put into your head. And as a defender, guys take and make tough shots. I mean, this is the best league in the world. You're going up against the best players in the world. But you know what you're going to get. They're going to shoot it from anywhere at any time. So, I mean, they're a hard team to cover, a hard team to guard.

You can't say that it's easy to guard those guys. The way that they can switch, the way that they can get to the basket, you know, and everybody plays their role incredibly well. But I look forward to it because I'm more of a guy that's like, hey, if you can score 40 on me, I want to see it. Not saying anybody can, but I want to know that you are one of the best players in the world because you just scored 40 on me, 50, whatever it may be. What was the best team you played this year?

Best team we played this year? I mean, you... Because it doesn't seem like the other players totally respect Golden State it's different it's not like for me you can only go by what happened we lost to Golden State twice we did not beat them so they're a really good team who else didn't we beat but they're a really good team but we didn't beat Atlanta so but I mean it all goes it matchups. If you don't match up well against a team, or if they're hot at one point in time, then that was the best team that you played this year to me. We don't match up well against some teams, and I think that's okay.

You had a weird team, though. You had kind of redundancy at certain positions, and you could just kind of see it. You look at the roster, and it's like, oh, I like a lot of these guys but then actually to play five of them together i don't know i it just when i watch you guys it just always felt disjointed it's the pieces didn't quite fit and i never understood why so why do you think uh it's a good question i mean we we had the same guys, obviously, with an addition, I think, to two more. And then we went from one style of play to another one with the same group of guys. I think that's hard to do in one year.

It's hard to do in one summer. Explain the second style. Explain the new style. You know, going, I mean, I think everybody knows what Tibbs was trying to do with the defense. And, you know, we're trying to get up and down um shoot a lot more threes and and stuff to to that to that nature but with the same group of guys that we had last year to to this year a lot of the guys that's not their strong suit i'm not saying that we can't make that adjustment but we only have what like two months in order to do that from

when the season was over so we had we had f Hoiberg as a coach now and then we got training camp I think Derek went down and trained account yeah and he was out and then he comes back like it was really really fresh to him right when he got back let alone myself who's I don't know average below average three-point shooter um but then you have guys that really can shoot it and can really play his style of ball, that being, you know, maybe if it's Doug or Etuan or Nico. But I think everybody's learning. So that's what this summer's for, to everybody to really get used to it.

So that means you have to shoot more threes, get better at threes. That doesn't mean I have to shoot more threes, as I talked to him about. I think I'm effective with getting to the line getting to the basket mid-range transition i mean i i scored enough points by not making hardly any threes i think that's that's not been a a problem i don't think anybody's just gonna let me shoot threes either right because i'm um i can play a little bit i love tibbs tibbs was with my Celtics in 2008. Yes, he was. When we whipped the Lakers' ass and won by 39 in game six.

And I thought he got a raw deal in Chicago in a lot of ways. And I thought he was a much better coach than people gave him credit for. And you guys always overachieved and had a lot of bad luck. I mean, starting with when Derek went down in game one against Philly, just year after year, and, like, Dang has the spinal tap thing, and injury after injury, bad luck things happening here and there. Would you – I'm trying to think of the right way to ask this. Ask it.

Go for it. Ask it however you want to ask. He's got a great roster in Minnesota. It's young. It's up and coming. He's got the number five pick. They have some fun things that they can do with that roster. I feel the same way I did when Steve Kerr took over the Warriors

because I've known Steve Kerr forever. I thought he was going to be a great coach. I like that roster. The things he was saying made sense. I think Tibbs is going to be lights out for that T-Wolves team. What do you think? I think so. Obviously, I have a lot of respect for Tibbs. I have zero

bad things to say about him. I might have had some bad things to say about him my rookie year when he didn't play me, but after that... He admits that that was a mistake probably. I mean, really love the guy, really respect him. He studies the game so incredibly well.

He's going to get the young guys to buy in the, you know, guarding and playing hard. We'll see. We'll see. You're rooting for him, it sounds like. Am I rooting for him? Yeah. I'm rooting for the Bulls.

No, I mean for Tibbs to do well. I'm rooting for my team. When we go up against Tibbs. When we go up against Tibbs. When we go up against Tibbs. Oh, yeah. I'm going to try to whoop his ass, definitely. What's the biggest misconception about Tibbs that the public has that you know is different?

That I know is different? You know, I think people always try to criticize him for playing his guys too much. But, I mean, at the end of the day, if we wanted to come out the game, we really could. I think guys just love to play basketball that it doesn't really hit you until afterwards. Like, he always wants to put the team that he's coaching

in the best position to win. That's why he may play guys 48 minutes. And I never once complained about it. All I ever wanted to do was play whenever I was a and i i never once complained about it all i ever wanted to do was play whenever i was a rookie when i didn't play all i ever wanted to do was play and then he played in 48 minutes like i can't complain because i asked for it so yeah um i think that's what that's what people look at oh he plays these guys too many minutes yeah he plays them a lot of minutes but i mean at the same time he won so i can't i can't say

anything about what's interesting about that though, is he played Dang a lot of minutes, too, and then he played you a lot of minutes. But if you just look at who leads the league in minutes, it's always guys like you and Dang and Durant. It's the perimeter guys who play the two or the three. Those are usually the guys who lead the leagues. That can do everything, basically. Yeah.

Paul George, you want those guys out on the floor for 39 minutes a game. Why would I want to take them out? So, you know, people really look at it like that. But I don't know. Like I said, I am excited to see what he does over there. Well, let me ask you, though, about the minutes thing. Did you feel like you're in your early mid-20s, difference between 42 minutes versus 38?

Can you even feel it during the game? Are you out there going, oh, my God, I'm beat? Like because you're young. Like you're probably not even thinking that at all, right? No. It depends on who you're going up against, the matchups. Like if you've got to, like, come on, if you've got to guard LeBron for 45 minutes and then you've got to go to the other end and try to score 20-plus,

that's not an easy thing to do. Same thing, like, if you've got to guard Steph or Klay, who's running off of a million screens, and then you've got to go to the other end, you know. Your body's different each and every night. But as long as you take care of your body, you should be all right. And I'm learning to take care of my body now each and every year that I'm getting older and each and every year that i'm i'm playing in this league so

i don't i don't have anything to say about it i think plus if it's like three third game in four nights fourth game in fifth nights is five nights yeah i get it like i watched lebron he played 46 minutes in game five in Cleveland against the Warriors. And he's been in the league 13 years. He's played 45,000 minutes. He's played just about every game this season. He's played big minutes in the playoffs. In the fourth quarter, his jump shot started to go left and right,

and you could see he played too many minutes. I think when you're younger, it's a little bit easier. Okay, but at the same time, do you think they have a better chance of winning with LeBron on the floor or LeBron off the floor? Whether he's making shots or missing shots, you still have to guard him. That's the way that you have to look at it. With him, I mean, yeah, he probably does need some rest, but I think LeBron knows with him on the floor, they have a really, really, really good chance of winning. Nothing against any of those other guys on that team. They got a lot of great players. Very political, yeah.

I like that. I don't want nobody to come at me next year trying to score 40. Hey, Jim, I heard you on that podcast. Yeah, exactly. No, we want to avoid that. I just feel like with the way the structure of the games, you can get somebody five minutes per half really easily because you got the TV timeout at the three-minute mark of the first quarter.

You get the end of the quarter timeout, and then you have another timeout in the 10-minute mark at the beginning of the second quarter. You can basically sit for 12, 13 minutes during that and miss five minutes of the game. Okay, but you got to understand, there's give and take. Now, what if whatever player, name one. I don't know. What if they left Durant in on the other team? Let's use KD.

What if you want to give him a five-minute break in the second quarter, right? But he started off the game 12 for 12. He probably had 45 by then. Okay? He's 12 for 12. Do you still give him a five-minute break? Or are you like, he hasn't missed a shot? Yeah.

And then you're like, let's keep him in. Let's see how many more he can make. Well, are you wrong for keeping him in? Right. Or are you wrong for taking him out? Yeah. That's like the top of the hill example. But it doesn't matter. It's a great example.

Wait, who would you rather guard? Would you rather chase Klay Thompson around those stupid screens for four quarters or would you rather just take on LeBron and just have a bull just run into your body 15 times? I'm not answering. You're not going to have somebody come at me next year and say, oh, you chose him? No, I'm not going to do that. I'll guard

both of them, which I have to anyways. What wears you down more physically? Chasing around the screens for four quarters or taking the LeBron football running back body blows 11 times in a game? I'm going to give you another scenario. Okay. Would you rather run 10 miles or get hit by a bulldozer? I'd rather run the 10 miles.

All right, exactly. LeBron would be my least favorite player to play if I was in your position. So you'd rather run 10 miles? You'd rather chase clay around screens? I've just never seen anybody like him. I mean, I was in a live one when Wilt Chamberlain played, but I've never seen anybody. And I don't understand how he hasn't had a separated shoulder

or a dislocated shoulder or a torn labrum or any of this stuff because how many times does he go up and he's shifting his body and somebody just whacks him? They come down on his shoulders and he just gets up. He's indestructible. No, he's strong. You have nightmares about him, don't you? You can be honest.

What? You ever had a nightmare about LeBron? I'm not scared of anybody. No, no. That's your rival. Cleveland, Chicago. We used to be a rivalry and then it kind of died a little bit. Yeah.

I think we got a rivalry with a lot of guys. I have rivalries with players personally. I'm not going to name any, so don't do it. Don't do it. I see you're puckering to ask who. I can see that. My theory on this is all NBA feuds are either over women, cards, or college. One of them actually is college. Yeah. That's, or college. One of them actually is college.

Yeah. That's what's crazy. One of them definitely is college. The amount of beefs from college and AAU and high school, it's like 45, 50% of the beefs. Actually, two of them is college now that I think about it. Yeah, because in college, first of all, people are crazier in college. And you really hate the other colleges. Yeah.

It's passionate. All right, so I have to go through all the Big Ten schools. I could figure this out if we had like three hours. A college rivalry? Yeah. Can you give me a conference? It was in my conference. Big Ten conference, all right.

I wasn't in Big Ten. I was in Big East. Tate will figure this out. Big East. Yeah, yeah. You won't figure it out. Oh, Big East. That's right, they moved.

I played against so many guys you won't know. I mean, obviously my brothers know because every time I see them, I'm like, he sucks. These guys, they love this. right, they moved. I played against so many guys you won't know. Obviously my brothers know because every time I see them they're like, he sucks. These guys, they love this. Just say one name. Say it. Don't you dare. So that's when I go up

against those guys. And actually if you watch me play, you'll know because every time that person steps on the floor, I'm just like I always shake my head. And those are people that i probably talk the most trash to yeah just because but other than that i'm explaining to me the trash part what's got is it muttering under your breath oh no i'm gonna let you know how do you do it oh if i score a basket on you you're getting all types of called the b word oh oh yeah it gets very personal if i don't like you so i heard draymond i heard he didn't say

the b word i heard it it began with an f and ended with boy that's what i heard that was the story i heard oh i don't i don't know i want to know i think lebron took it so personally i'm sure lebron's been called before nobody knows he really got upset yeah but it could have been his feelings got hurt it's really hard to hurt lebron's feelings he's like one of the strongest people in the united states yeah something happened i like that stuff i think it was a little more i think there's a little more to the story might have been a little background yeah maybe one of my three things but college is out because lebron didn't go to college maybe something else yeah yeah uh i like this stuff this is what i grew up with i grew up in the 70s and 80s and guys got mad at each other to go to college. Maybe it's something else. Yeah. Yeah. I like this stuff.

This is what I grew up with. I grew up in the 70s and 80s and guys got mad at each other. It's weird because you look 21, so I would have never guessed. Yeah, thank you. I still get carded every once in a while. Oh, really? Yeah.

No, I like this stuff. And now the NBA seems to be so terrified. In the 70s and 80s, this is what it was like. In this decade, there's been an overcorrection the other way. And I do wonder sometimes if we miss some of that physicality. That's why, I don't know if you saw Game 4, but the rest tucked the whistles away.

It was like a man's game. The Draymond and LeBron thing came out of how they were letting them play that whole game. Guys were mauling each other. But don't you kind of want that as a competitor? Don't you like when they tuck them away i like it yeah i like to compete um you know play through contact if there's a foul obviously but i think whenever you know you're playing hard you don't even think about you know if you're going to get fouled or not you're just trying to to whip the person that you're going up against no matter what what team it is, what player, what position. If you're competing

and you're playing hard, I think everything else just takes care of itself. The game has changed from back then to now in so many ways. Now you look at how the bigs were dominant, how it's guard oriented now, threes, getting to the rim, hard fouls. Any hard oriented now, threes, getting to the rim, hard fouls. Like, you know, any hard foul now, you might get a flagrant two. You never know. Flagrant seven.

Yeah. Your team got hit almost the hardest out of anybody from how the league changed. The Celtics had a little bit of a similar thing where they had these guys and the team was built for 2013 2014 and then everything shifts and you can really only play one big guy at the same time now with all perimeter guys and the Celtics had like you know six seven bigger guys they got David Lee over the summer I was like that's great David Lee's gonna be good for us he'll get some rebounds and then it's like yeah we can't play him there's everyone's going small when he's out there and you can't even put him out there.

And for you guys, you had Gasol. Joe. You had Joe, who got hurt a couple times during the year. But you had Tosh. You had Maratic, which I don't know what position he is, but I think he's going to be something on a really good team. And I don't know what the team is, and so much of this is who's on your team how do you play

I believe in that guy though I think at some point he's gonna have a moment yeah he's got he's a little bit of a heat check guy he's got that weird foreign like just kind of knows where to go and makes weird things happen but um but yeah your team just never really made sense well we'll find out it's a big summer for us Obviously Are you worried They're just gonna rebuild And just blow it up

Am I worried Yeah I don't really think I have anything to worry about I can't control it It's out of my control It's not my job I don't think I worry about it

I think they ask my opinion On some things Which I give them my opinion Really But Oh yeah Do they email you What do they do

It's weird because They have these things called cell phones. Do they ask for their brother's opinions or no? These things called cell phones. You can pick them up. And if you got the other person's 10 digits, just call them. Or text them. They could do that also. What about your brothers?

They don't care about their opinions? No, they don't. I don't think they win Chicago any games. They actually haven't in their career. So I don't think they'll ever ask them for anything. That's a big moment when you get the call with somebody throwing an idea at you from a personnel standpoint. It's like one of the signature moments of when you're the rise of an NBA star.

I don't think so. The team calls you. No, I'm proud of you. I think this is great. I think they just want to check up on me, and then that question may come up. I don't think so. And the team calls you. No, I'm proud of you. I think this is great. I think they just want to, you know, check up on me. And then that question may come up. I don't think they call

just for that reason. Did they call you after the weird trade rumors came out? No. Because it's just a rumor. I would, if I was the GM of your team, I would call you every time

there was a weird trade rumor. You would? Yeah. I'd be like, Jimmy, don't listen to those guys. Keep doing your thing. Keep getting up at 545. No.

I'm going to do that anyways. Keep hitting those corner threes for me. Yeah. I can hit like, Jimmy, don't listen to those guys. Keep doing your thing. Keep getting up at 545. No. I'm going to do that anyways. Keep hitting those corner threes for me. Yeah. I can hit more than just a corner three, though. Well, you kind of overlook. I don't know. You kind of dismissed the three-point line a little bit. I didn't like it.

Yeah. That's the last step for you. You get to, like, 43%, 44% on those, that's it. You're going to be, like, first or second team on the end. It is another step, but if we make it to the playoffs, if we win X amount of games, you can still make it to the... I think all of that stuff

is based on if you win or not. The NBA stuff? Yeah, if you win... I happen to have a vote. Guess what I did? I steered everything toward Warriors, guys. I put Draymond on the first team. I put Clay on the third team. I put Draymond on the first team. I put Klay on the third team. I gave Draymond

all defense. I gave Iggy six man. I put Livingston third. If you're going to win 73 games, I'm rewarding you with as many of my votes as I can do. Winning takes care of everything. That's where the trade rumors come in. If we win and I do

my job the way I'm capable and supposed to do it, I wouldn't be in trade rumors right now. I may or may not have made up a couple trade rumors on Twitter that involved you and my favorite team, the Celtics. I figured you would be the guy to do that. So, you know, everybody would screenshot it. It's out of love. I'm not trying to start trouble.

No, no, no. Of course. Of course. That's your squad. That's my squad. I don't know if you like me as a player or not. I have no idea. I haven't asked you that question yet. Should I ask? I'm not going to ask. Of course. Of course. That's your squad. That's my squad. I don't know if you like me as a player or not. I have no idea. I haven't asked you that question yet.

Should I ask? Sure. I'm not going to ask. Let's talk about it. No, let's talk about it. I don't want to talk about it. Okay. I really like you as a player.

Oh, well, thank you. I actually, I love everyone. How tall are you? 6'7", 3'4". We just call it 6'8". That 6'7", 6'8", is like the sweet spot in the league right now. 2'35". On the piece of paper when I check into the game, it says 220, but I'm not 220.

Well, I look at somebody like you, and I think of, I have the best coach in the league, Brad Stevens, and he loves to take different weird lineups and different players that you don't, oh, I didn't realize he could be used this way and all these different things. And, you know, I would enjoy watching him

with a coach like that. Okay. I'll keep that in mind. Yeah, the Celtics have a lot of assets. Tell me about the Derrick Rose situation and what it's like to play with somebody who just has bad luck. And he just had literally some of the worst luck anyone's had in the NBA in the last 30 years over and over again.

Every time he's about to get over the hump, something would happen. Yeah, that's tough. Obviously physically, but mentally. Because now you always have to think, you know, I want my body to hold up. I want to be able to play. I want to help my team win, which I know that's on his mind. And then something like that may happen. And you can say that you feel for him, you understand, but you don't because it didn't

happen to you. You know what I mean? So I don't get mad at him for anything because he works so incredibly hard I know he's training right now out here as well and just to see what he brings to the table every night I mean for his city of Chicago where he was born and bred I think that for that to happen like it did and the manner it did every single year, that's tough on him as a point guard, as whoever, as a center, as a wing. That's tough on you as a player because not only is your body affected,

your mind's going with it. That's all you're worrying about. And rightfully so, you kind of have to because you want to play this game, the game that you love, that you've been playing your entire life for as long as you can. And so you got to kind of be cautious about your body. I was lucky enough to see him a couple times before he got hurt those first two years, just in person. I think there's certain guys who are just different in person, you know, like Westbrook, LeBron.

Like athletically, it makes sense on TV, but when you see it. And Rose and Westbrook to me were like on the exact same level athletically. And they're both fearless. And that was the thing you watch rose and you'd be like my god like this guy's this guy's like he just doesn't care he has no regard for his body he's just flying into the lane at warp speed which is basically the way westbrook plays i haven't seen him get that back since the last maybe two injuries ago it hasn't come back but i still feel like he's young enough that it can come back. Oh, yeah, I think so as well.

Well, we'll see. I mean, that's all we can do is see this upcoming season. I can't tell you that it will, that it won't. I think it's going to happen, it's going to happen. And I think that we will see that this upcoming season. Actually, I know that that's what I will see, you will see, everybody will see. Make the case for me why you guys make sense in the same backcourt.

Because you both, you know, you could arguably both have the ball and a lot of the offense could run through either of you. I think us being one and the same player, maybe I'm a little taller, he's a little faster. We can

both attack the rim. We can both attack the rim. We can both beat our guy and then get shots for other players, finish at the rim, mid-range, and we can both really guard, to tell you the truth. Get out in the open floor. There's so many things that we have in common that when we utilize those things and play together like that, I think we can be just as indegenerable as anybody else.

Who's the best player you ever played against? Best player I ever played against? Yeah. Now, when you say best player I ever played against... This answer is not going to get you in trouble. Yes, it is. No, it is. It's not. Yes, it is.

The other actors can talk about, like, he's the best actor I've ever been in a scene with. It's not. Yes, it is. The other actors can talk about, like, he's the best actor I've ever been in a scene with. It's not insulting to the other actors. We're not acting. It could be four years ago. It might not be as good anymore. This is how you answer this question. The best player I ever played against

was in this church league in high school. That's so political. That's the most political answer you've ever said. Okay, well when i when i name somebody let's just say hypothetically speaking i was to say lebron james i'm not gonna say lebron james because he's a you know he's he's up here i'm gonna say um pick somebody in the middle of the pack you see that that's more insulting no it's not what if we said like chris middleton and you were like you know chris middleton's, I'm in the middle of the pack.

I'm torturing Jimmy Butler next time. So you're saying LeBron. Yeah, somebody like LeBron. I think it's fair. He's won five MVPs. It's a fair answer. I say LeBron. And, okay, I can use this guy because that's my guy.

Nas Muhammad. Still in the league. Nas Muhammad. 38. That's ridiculous. Nas is my man. Nas is like 38. You can't compare Nas to LeBron right now. I have no

idea if this is true or not, and I'm guessing. But Dwayne Wade from Chicago, you guys play the same position. He's the alpha dog. I'm sure he's come at you a little bit. Yeah, as he should. We both went to Marquette. You smiled, though, like there's a backstory that you

didn't want to tell me no i smiled because i like that guy you like dwayne wade i like that guy because he went to marquette you i like that guy so he's you're on his chicago corner and you're on his marquette corner and knowing what I know about Dwayne Wade, he's not like, I'm going to be your big brother and help you through this. He's more like, I'm going to destroy you because

you're on my two corners. Cool. I like that. That's what he was like, right? Okay. Yeah. So as a fierce competitor,

I'm the same way. Good. So when you play Dwayne Wade, I should watch those games. Yeah, you definitely should. Miami, Chicago. Miami's going to have

like Durant on the team next year they're gonna pat riley just keeps adding pieces yeah so that's my fear for durant next year if he leaves what's that well everyone thinks like if durant leaves to get his own team like he'd go to washington because that's where he's from he'd go to boston because we have the most assets or go to the lakers because he has a house here. I get scared any time Miami has a chance to get somebody who's really good because they have a track record of just getting these people going to South Beach. I mean, Miami is a— Your brothers are laughing right now.

What? See? We just got through talking about that. Stop doing that. Who hit who in the nuts? Oh, he hit himself in the nuts? See what I got to deal with every day? Look at him. I forgot the names. Wesley Johnson, Kimball Walker,

Jeremy Lamb. Tate said... That's a long way. You're way off. Medical college feuds, Jeremy Lamb, Wesley Matthews, Kimball Walker. Wesley Matthews on my team. Who'd you say? No, Wesley Johnson. Wesley Johnson. Wesley Johnson. That's a good one. Syracuse?

I actually do have a problem with Wesley Johnson. Good. Let's hear about it. Only because when I was recruited to Iowa State, he was like my host guy. You know, and we're going there, we're going there, we're going there. And it was cool. We was having fun, yada, yada, yada. And, you know, he started off at Iowa State before he transferred to Syracuse.

I'm coming out of junior college. That's why he was like 30 when he graduated. Yeah. 24? How old is he? I don't know. But he didn't even graduate. But, okay, you give me sidetrack.

I'm sorry, I sidetracked you. You give me sidetrack. And so we're on the visit. I'm thinking, like, yo, I'm coming to Iowa State. I like you as a player. I like you as a guy. He was from Texas. He was from Corsicana.

And I was like, cool, cool, cool, yeah. I'm going to end up coming to Iowa State. He was like, cool. And he was like, you come here, man, we'll be a dynamic force, yada, yada, yada. Two days later, he transferred to Syracuse. Oh! And I'm like, like, if I would have signed to Iowa State and you transferred, me and you would have had a problem.

And so I see him. He works out with my trainer here in L.A. And I just look at him, and I'm like, man. But that's my guy at the same time. He's your guy? He almost trapped you in Iowa. He's my guy, Texas guy. You've been in Iowa.

You've gone crazy. You end up in a good place because I like Milwaukee. You like Milwaukee? I do. I like Milwaukee, too. Oh, all right. I'll move on. Not a great place for men?

No, I like Milwaukee. I just said that three times. Okay. I really like Milwaukee. Yeah, me too. Yeah. They love their sports there. Can you tell me about the L.A. basketball scene and all these NBA players that are here during the summers

and all these secret games that happen and Chris Paul's in charge of one of the secret games and then other people. I don't even know anything about all that. Oh, stop it. I don't. I know nothing. I know about the Drew League.

That's all I know. No, there's all these secret games going on in these weird gyms. Chris Paul does them. I have never heard of that. Well, you were in San Diego last year. I'm so removed from all of this. This is my first summer being out here. That is the first time.

Have y'all ever heard of that? I've never. Okay, see, we're not from around here, from the country. I used to hear about it all the time. I don't hear about it now. Well, they exist. I've never heard of that. Chris Paul is allegedly in charge,

and it happens in the Clippers practice facility and then a couple other spots, and these guys just go, and it's like a secret handshake thing. So you've got to get in the secret handshake club. I'm going to find my way into that club. You've got to find that. Maybe they didn't want to invite you

because they're afraid to have you in the games because you're young and you're hungry, or maybe Dwayne Wade didn't want you to be invited. Why does D have you in the games because you you're young and you're hungry and you take it or maybe dwayne wade didn't want you to be invited why does dwayne keep coming i don't know he'll be for something yeah so who'd you play with san diego who were you playing against just myself you spent a summer there with me i used to torch my my brother right here oh he used to get the blues when he'd have to guard me one-on-one. It was a very sad scene. He can't guard me if he tried, which he did try. So your brother's been with you this whole time from day one in Chicago?

Mm-hmm. How big is your group? These two. These two, that's it? Do you have a chef yet? Some people get a chef. We have a chef. But it's not like he's there every single day for

every meal yeah you know i like i like shake shack shake shack you just told me you're eating healthier now you're shake shack i did say i'm eating healthier i didn't say i eat candy like i used to back in the day oh you're a candy guy yeah am i i probably got like three cavities right now i'm scared to go to the dentist because everybody i asked hey do root canals hurt they're like yeah they freaking hurt you know that's what steve nash he stopped eating sugar in like i don't know 2005 to the right when he started winning mvps he started changing his diet he was like one of the first ones and he had all this extra energy nobody knew about now i feel like drinking his green juice yeah that's good cucumber and spinach and kale and you're taking

naps naps are good yeah naps are good. Yeah, naps are good. The science of naps. Because people, the NBA players, people don't realize how screwed up your schedule is. But you can actually get on a schedule in the summer. You really can't during the season because you're in every different time zone. You're flying around. You might play at 2 p.m. one day and then eight you you never know so it's uh it's hard to get on like a routine schedule during the year but right now oh uh you best

believe i would be in bed during the week nine ten o'clock p.m finishing games going to eat dinner like 11 30 yeah because people people don't know any better. I was like, why are these guys out at four in the morning? It's like, cause they just finished their job at 1145 at night and then they want to go somewhere and eat and their sleep cycle is, is done a certain way. Is there any chance you're on the Olympic team? I hope so.

I mean, yes. Are you going to the tryouts and all that? Or the, like whatever? I don't think there really is a tryout. Or the, that's something, That's something.

Something's happening because the guys are dropping out. I just think they just pick the team. Are you on that list of 30? I am on that list. So, yes, there is a chance. I don't know what's going to happen, but there is a chance. Well, it's mid-June. So what's the next part of the process?

They pick the team. And they just tell you? And that's it? I think so, pretty much. Do your brothers get to come? To Brazil? Oh, they're coming. They look very focused.

He hasn't. He literally hasn't moved. He literally hasn't moved. Probably so. They'll probably be there. I think it's only right because, you know, as much fame and success that I achieve, I think them, my two trainers, Travell Gaines, a.k.a. Scorelord, Chris Johnson, a.k.a. Dodo, they're the reason behind my success, whether it be on the court,

whether it be in the weight room, whether it be these two and just keeping me sane when I have a bad game, getting me to forget about it, whether we play dominoes or cards, whatever it may be. That, you know, whenever I go on vacation, they go on vacation. Whenever, if I get the chance to go to Rio, they'll be in Rio.

Just because, like, I am a part of Chicago Bullets, that is my team, but this is my team behind the scenes that nobody really sees you uh I mean everybody's talked about your background and how you grew up all that stuff when did you feel like you made it when did I feel like I made it you feel safe like this is gonna happen I'm gonna have a career oh this is gonna be 15 years of this I wasn't I wasn't no when I went to junior college. I wasn't even thinking, hey, you're going to be a two-time all-star in the best league in the world, sign a max deal.

I could care less about any of that. To tell you the truth, I wanted to be a businessman. I wanted to wear suits. And it's ironic how things change because I hate wearing suits now. I absolutely despise it. But when I was in junior college, I was like, man, you know, I want to do international business because I wanted to travel. And if you're a businessman, you wear suits.

So I was like, that's what I'm going to do. And I got to junior college, did my year, got to Marquette. Adrienne Ridgeway used to be Adrienne Trice. She was like, hey, maybe you shouldn't do – literally, she told me I talk too much. She was like, maybe you shouldn't be a business major, you should do communications. And I did that, loved it. And then obviously, you know, get drafted and be right now. But I was like, you know what, I'm gonna be all right. I got a scholarship. And then obviously got a scholarship to Marquette, got my degree. So basketball or not, I can still make a living off of my degree. Who was the most important person when you were growing up that helped you get from point a to point b um i don't know

there's there's yeah i'm telling you there's so many of them. I can't just name one that wouldn't be fair. But, I mean, me and this guy right here, Jermaine, we've been together since the beginning of time. He used to come over to the house and try to borrow video games, and I had the meanest dog ever. And so I'd put the video game in the dog bowl and make him, like, if you want the game, go get it out the dog bowl. It was exciting to see back in the day.

But it's things like that that always remind me where I come from and who I am. So that's why these guys are around. I don't know, I just feel like so many people have helped me along the way to pick one where Would it be wrong? Yeah, that's fair.

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That's $120 worth of clothes for just $30 for your first month. F-I-V-E-F-O-U-R-C-L-U-B club, 5-4 club.com, promo code BS. Back to Jimmy Butler. And last year when your team, when things weren't going that well and then there was one reporter, and I'm good at reading this stuff and figuring out what's BS and what not, and one of them was like, Jimmy thinks he's a star now and all this stuff. I'm like, everything I've ever read about this guy leads me to believe

that this is complete BS, and I don't know why I'm reading this. When you heard about that, what was your reaction? I don't pay attention to it. It gives people things to read and to talk about. More power to you. I know who I am I think all my fans know who I am I get excited when I still see kids walk around

in my jersey let alone that a shoe just came out for me with Jordan like that type of stuff you can call me what you want to call me I know who I am I know can call me what you want to call me. I know who I am. I know my morals and what I'm about.

I wish everybody could sit down and have a day with me so you could see. But if you want to talk, that's fine. More power to you. You got freedom of speech. It's in the First Amendment. I learned that in college. I learned that in high school. So I can't make you be quiet, but I can't do anything about that I know who I am

I don't have anything bad to say about myself are you on Twitter? I haven't used Twitter in forever great I gotta get better that's right

no no stay on Twitter you don't need Twitter gotta get better at it though Twitter and social media that's the way everything's going nowadays

that's how people are gonna keep up with me anyways you know I post on Instagram see Instagram's good i like that but i don't really post too much on instagram either so i gotta get better at it you know who has my favorite instagram kg kg kg has a great instagram it's just all these random people and like it'll all of a sudden he'll be like at at some uh gym with rajan rondo and they have their arms around each other. I never know what to expect from KG's Instagram.

I should follow KG. That would be a good one. When you're in the secret handshake LA games, you can take Instagram photos. Yeah, but I won't invite you because you're not on the secret handshake. No, I'm not even in there. So if I get in, I mean, I got the handshake. I can't just let you in.

You have to pretend you like Chris Paul to get in the games. I think that's part of it. Now he's kind of a pain in the ass. I think you just let you. You have to pretend you like Chris Paul to get in the games. I think that's part of it. Now he's kind of a pain in the ass. I think you're fishing. Now I have to say I like Chris Paul, which I actually do. It's a fact that all NBA players don't like Chris Paul. I mean, that's a fact.

That's a fact? Yeah, because he stomps around. He yells at everybody. It's not a fact. It's not a fact. So do three-year-olds. But you don't dislike three-year-olds because they stomp around and yell at people. Chris Paul does have a lot of enemies.

I had Boogie on the podcast once, and he just openly came out and was like, yeah, I don't like that guy. He doesn't like a lot of people. Boogie. Yes. You like, but Boogie's like your kind of guy, though. Yeah, I like him. He's tough. Boogie's my dude.

I want Boogie to be on the right team. Boogie's a good example of how your situation can affect the perception that people have of who you are as a player. I think he likes that, though. You think that's like a crutch for him? Yeah. I think he likes people not to like him because then that gives him a reason not to like you,

and he really doesn't care anyway. I'm one of, like, five people he likes, so I'm very honored to be in that club. He doesn't like a lot of media people. I've always had his back, although I didn't vote for him from All-NBA because he missed too many games. If he's listening, he definitely just heard that he does not like you anymore. They had the seventh pick in the draft.

How do I vote somebody on the All-NBA team if you're one of the worst seven teams? That's the thing. At some point, I've got to penalize you for wins and losses. Even though, you know, one player can only do so much. I like the guy. You do? Yeah. Me too. I like a lot of guys. In between the lines only do so much. I like the guy. You do? Yeah.

Me too. I like a lot of guys. In between the lines, it's different. But off the floor, I mean, you gain a lot of respect for the people that work, the type of person they are. You know, a lot of people in the league obviously have families, and you see how they interact with their kids and all of that good stuff. In between the lines, we are enemies if you're not in the same color jersey that I am.

I may like you, but as a competitor, I don't. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Here's a question you can answer. Young players on the way up that aren't totally household names yet, but you respect and they're on your radar. That's a good one. You're not going to offend anyone with that answer.

Yeah, young players? Yeah, somebody on the way up. Not like a Towns. Like, everybody knows Towns is going to be great. And he already is kind of great. Hmm. Who's the next

Jay Crowder slash Butler slash Wesley Matthews slash whoever? I'll tell you one player I do like. Okay. Devin Booker. I like that kid.

He's young. He can really shoot it. He can get to the rim. And he's like 18. Yeah. He was 18 last year. He can play. I, yeah, he went three spots ahead of the Celtics.

We missed like all those justice winzo miles turner all those guys and booker didn't play and then all of a sudden he started playing it was like wow this guy's offensively um fantastic yeah he can he could really go anybody in the direct do you watch college at all or no no i like jaylen brown i like jaylen How come? I mean, he's tough. Like, he's strong. Have you played against him? I played against him one-on-one over the summer. Yeah?

Yeah. Good defensive player. I was in jeans. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Tell you the truth, he literally, he really does remind me of myself. Like, that's what's crazy. When I was going up against him, I was like, that's crazy.

Like, he can move his feet really well. He's athletic. He can play. I'm not going to tell you who won the game. I mean, you shouldn't ask. It's my guy. Don't even ask who won the game. I've obviously studied him because he's in the range of where we're picking.

And he can't shoot yet. And sometimes that throws people off a draft pick scent and then they learn how to shoot a year later. I think Kawhi is a good example of somebody. People are like, Kawhi can't shoot threes. And then he falls to 13 or 14 and now he's Kawhi. You don't have to be able to shoot threes to make your mark in this league. You know who Dwayne Wade is since you keep bringing him up?

Yeah, your enemy. That's who he is. Why do you keep saying that? You're on so many of his corners. He don't shoot threes like that, but he's effective in what he does. He's actually a good example of somebody that knows he's not effective at shooting threes and picks his spots with them. That's all his league is.

Pick your spot, get there before the defender, and do what move you want to do. Because Westbrook, and stay out of this because Westbrook's crazy. I don't want him to be mad at you. But Westbrook shoots a lot of threes, and he's like a career 29% three-point shooter. But he'll make one occasionally in a huge moment that makes you think it's okay for him to keep shooting threes.

But statistically, if you look at his stats, you'd be like, he should never shoot threes ever. Never ever? I think that's a stretch. If you're 29%, you shouldn't shoot threes. Really? Unless you're wide open. Yeah. Well, if you're 29% and you're wide open or guarded, you're still 29%.

Yeah, I think most NBA players can make a wide open three 37 of the time would be my guess except and then unless you get to the big guys but any perimeter guy like that's if you're wide open you should be able to make one out of three right yeah i think i wouldn't say the face ones are tough yeah we just had an accident yeah he was doing so well he's throwing a no hitter Yeah. You see what I got to do with it? Come on. He was doing so well. He was throwing a no-hitter.

He was like in the ninth inning here. That's unreal. That's all right. But it's crazy because... Tate will edit it out. No, what's crazy is... I'll leave it in, actually. He was on social media because he doesn't have a ring to.

That's the bad part about it. So he was definitely over there looking at it so he was supposed to be looking at it. So you're in LA all summer. I'm here. But you might have to go to Brazil if you get the call. Yes. Hopefully I get that call.

I wore the chefs for you today. Oh, yeah. You want to just go no comment? Want to go no comment? The curry lows? What would you add to the curries? What would I add? Yeah.

Other than color. A Jordan logo. Jordan, great answer. Political to the very end. That's the brand. That's the brand. Look. You hate Earl Clark, right?

Earl Clark? Yeah. No, I have a problem with Earl Clark. He'll never tell us. I only played against him one year. I'm going to find out. You'll find out? Tate's going to find out.

You don't like Demare Carroll because he beat you in Missouri. Demari Carroll. And he busted my lip in a Toronto game. I came back to him. Oh, so that's somebody. He busted your lip? Yeah. On a layup in a ref called a foul on me.

All right, so I have to watch all the games you play against Miami and all the games you play against Toronto. This is one of the things I've learned. Toronto. I only had a problem things I've learned. Toronto. I only had a problem with him for that game because he messed my swag up. And then Minnesota. I think those will be fun to watch just because

you love Tibbs. You'll just play well and you'll be fired up because he's out there, right? And Boston. I like going up against Jay. Anybody that I went to school with. You guys would be in the same team. That'll be weird. That's weird. I've already pinched you into my roster. Oh, you did?

Well, thank you for that. When my son, I forget when the 2017 game comes out, but I'm going to trade for you. I'm going to trade for you and Ben Simmons. Me and Ben Simmons? Yeah, because my son's name is. Ain't that like a GM thing? Yeah, you can just put whatever player on your team. You can?

Yeah. Wow. Do the a GM thing? Yeah, you can just put whatever player on your team. You can? Yeah. Wow. Do the franchise GM thing. My son's name is Ben Simmons, so I'm torn between whether I want Ben Simmons to be one of the best players in the league or whether I want him to not be that good. Because at some point it would be weird if he was like LeBron James and my son had the exact same name as... Well, it's like Michael B. Jordan. Right.

And Michael Jordan. And think about that. And they're both really great at what they do. He had to put an initial in there and he had to make like five awesome movies and now nobody mentions it. It's a lot of pressure on my son. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. What was your son's middle name? Oakley. After Charles. Why are you laughing? Oakley. Oakley. Not Bogley, man.

Bogley would be weird. You know why? Because I wanted the BOS initials. I swear to God. Wow. Benjamin Oakley Simmons. Yeah. My wife had just given birth and she was like out of it.

And I was like, what about Oakley as her middle name? She was like, fine, whatever. And just put it in. It looks really nice, the BOS initials. Boston. Yes. Yeah. Yeah nice, the BOS initials. Boston. Yes. Yeah, yeah. You didn't seem excited enough.

I mean, it's Boston. Trust me, I get enough on my Instagram and Twitter about going to Boston, weather. But the funniest part about it is everybody's like, Jimmy, don't leave Chicago. I literally, I don't control that. It's not like I'm a free agent. I can't do anything about that.

And so people get mad. Oh, we hate you. You want to leave. I never once said that. There's absolutely nothing that I could do. Literally, the only way is if I got traded. I love to rip other teams' fans, and I always feel like Boston fans are the best fans

because that's what we do in Boston. I actually kind of like the Bulls fans. Yeah, we do. They're smart. They're educated. Yes. They actually follow basketball. They're not like Yahoo's.

They're not paying like a people. Chicago fans in general, though, really, you know, are die hard. We know what it is. And I think the same thing happened in Boston to some degree. Actually, to all degrees. The Jordan era, they got to see such a high level of basketball, and they grew up with that, and they actually understand basketball because of what they saw.

Whereas if you lived in Sacramento the last 30 years, you're seeing bad basketball and disjointed basketball and one-on-one basketball and all the things you don't want to learn from. I grew up, I watched Larry Bird, and I watched Great Passing, and I watched the right fast breaks, and i understand the sequencing and all that stuff and i think i feel like the bulls fans are like that too they just saw great basketball for like 11 straight years yeah they just get it i think that they're i think fans are very fortunate to be able to to watch some of the the best players that ever played the game play. You know, obviously Kobe's done now, but when you look at his career

and you look at what he did for the game of basketball, I mean, I was a kid back in the day shooting sand. I was Kobe Bryant, let alone knowing today that I would be going up against him. You know, obviously people do that for Steph and LeBron and MJ back in the day. But for fans, and I'm a fan of the game, just to see what Steph is doing, what LeBron is doing, what D-Wade has done, what Kobe has done, you really respect, obviously, who they are as a player, but I've gained so much more respect and knowledge about the game from watching these guys.

I think that fans nowadays are really buying into that to learn about the game. What's the biggest misconception about Bulls fans? I don't know. Maybe there's no misconceptions. You just could have said there is none. I think it's just real. I think that they love their team. I'm going to flip it around.

Favorite place to play from an arena standpoint? I'm going into this building, and I'm excited because I'm in this building. It's crazy. You're not going to hurt the feelings of the other buildings because they're all concrete. They don't have souls. They're in personalities. It's crazy. My they're all concrete. They don't have souls. Yeah. They're in personalities. It's crazy. My favorite arena to probably play in is the Bradley Center.

Only because I played there in college. And I like Milwaukee so much. That's a good out. Other than that, I would choose. I always play well in TD Gardens. I do. You're just baiting me now. Yeah, now I'm just...

Now you're just messing with me. Now I'm going to tell all the Celtic fans to send you Instagrams. Send you personalized Instagram messages. I like LA. I got a lot of friends out here. So I like being able to play in front of them. And then I just, you know, the weather's always good because I'm always stuck in the harsh winters of Chicago.

So the Sunday afternoon 1230 game in L.A., never usually one of your better games? Or are you one of those people that take care of yourself the night before? I don't go out like that. That's always fun. I'm equipped to be a ticket holder. The 1230 Sunday game is always interesting. No, I'm ready to play. It's always fun to watch certain guys running around with the...

I think even if you do, you'll get it out of your system within the first four. You should. You cough it out of your system. Or you sweat it out. Sweat it out. Yeah. If you're going to do anything, sweat it out. I think that's what happened.

I mean, everybody said this, but when the Warriors lost to the Lakers, they were here for a couple days. I'm convinced that they probably maybe decided to enjoy themselves. You got to take care of yourself as an NBA player. Stop eating candy. You're napping. That's great. Maybe the veggie drinks are good. Maybe stay away from steak

and shake a little bit. I don't like steak and shake. Okay, well you mentioned it earlier. No, I did not. I said Shake Shack. Shake Shack. I did not say steak and shake. Shake Shack's worse, isn't it? Which one? You're entitled to your own opinion. I just got through saying that. Which one's better? Shake Shack or Steak and Shake?

Shake Shack. Shake Shack's better. Yeah, I screwed that up. Yeah, they got chicken sandwiches. Organic chicken. Free range. Yeah, Chick-fil-A's in Hollywood. It's close. It's like two minutes from here. Jimmy Butler, this was fun. Thank you, brother.

Good luck this summer. If you're on Team USA, bring us back something. I will. I'll bring you back. Joe, we got anything else? Okay. All right.

Jimmy Butler, thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Thanks to 5-4 Club. They have you covered with styling advice and hand-picked clothes delivered to your door.

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which is available for purchase next week on theringer.com. $5 of every single item goes to our good friends at Charity Water. You might have heard the podcast I did with them a couple weeks ago with Scott. And finally, don't forget about my new HBO show, Any Given Wednesday, launches on June 22nd, 10 p.m. Wednesday night. Home box office. We're here. D-Day has arrived.

Enjoy Game 6. Maybe enjoy Game 7. Enjoy Money in the Bank. Enjoy the U.S. Open. Enjoy the ninth episode Maybe enjoy Game 7. Enjoy Money in the Bank. Enjoy the U.S. Open. Enjoy the ninth episode of Game of Thrones. Enjoy Father's Day. And happy Father's Day to my pops. Enjoy the weekend.

Anytime y'all want to see me again, rewind this track right here. Close your eyes. And picture me rolling.