The Miami Heat and New York Knicks may be locked in a huge second-round playoff battle, but that isn’t stopping Knicks veteran Derrick Rose from praising Heat superstar Jimmy Butler.
Rose spoke about his former teammate during an interview with NBA insider Shams Charania.
“I feel like I knew that he was gon’ be alright, but I feel like every player or every person — nobody really don’t know your journey or how you feel about yourself but you,” he said. “Even with me saying that I was gon’ win MVP, nobody then believed. My mom probably didn’t even believe, but I believed, you know what I mean? And I feel like that belief — you are the only one that can know, not believe, but you know what you have inside you, and I feel like Jimmy always knew that he was gon’ be someone.”
Rose and Butler were teammates on the Chicago Bulls for several seasons at the start of Butler’s NBA career. Now, the two players are facing each other in the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
Butler’s NBA career got off to a slow start. He wasn’t drafted until 29 other players were off the board in 2011, and as a rookie, his production was extremely modest. He averaged just 2.6 points per game across limited playing time.
However, he quickly showed signs of growth in the following seasons, and by his fourth year in the league, he was an All-Star who averaged 20.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
The Marquette University product ended up spending six seasons with the Bulls before bouncing around to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers and eventually, the Heat.
In the 2023 postseason, Butler has played some of the best basketball of his career, dragging the Heat to yet another deep run. In eight playoff games, he is averaging 33.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.
Unfortunately for Rose, his Knicks are on the brink of elimination against Butler’s Heat. Miami currently has a 3-1 series lead over New York and will get an opportunity to wrap things up on Wednesday in Game 5.
Butler has certainly come a long way since his days with Rose on the Bulls, and he has checked some remarkable boxes along the way. But if the 33-year-old were to bring a championship home to Miami this season with the way the Heat’s roster is currently constructed, it would undoubtedly be his most stunning accomplishment yet.