Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler is a practice warrior, and he’s the type of player who takes no prisoners at any time.
Former NBA guard Jamal Crawford was teammates with Butler a few years ago on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
He recalled a memorable practice involving the Marquette University product while he was on “Club Shay Shay” with NFL Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe.
“I’m gonna tell you the coldest part, and I don’t know if Jimmy said this,” Crawford said. “I think he had his Rolex on while he was killing everybody with the ball. I think he had a Rolex watch on while he was killing people, picking them apart in practice, then walked off again. It was classic, from what I heard.”
Back then, Butler was a perennial All-Star who was considered to be difficult and a bad influence on his teammates. He criticized teammates such as Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins for being soft during his stay in the Twin Cities.
Butler was traded early in the 2018-19 season to the Philadelphia 76ers. He then joined the Heat in the summer of 2019.
Since then, his image has undergone a dramatic makeover.
These days, Butler is considered a strong leader and an important part of the Heat’s championship-caliber culture. This was never more apparent than when the team made its Cinderella run to the NBA Finals last year.