#Jimmy butler professional#

The following season, he played all 82 games for the Bulls. He saw limited opportunities in his rookie year, playing 42 games during the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season.

#Jimmy butler professional#

Professional career Chicago Bulls (2011–2017) 2011–2014: Early years and first All-Defensive selectionīutler was selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. As a senior in 2010–11, he averaged 15.7 points per game and earned an All-Big East Honorable Mention for the second straight year. John's, to help Marquette finish 11–7 in the Big East and earn its fifth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. His season was highlighted by two game-winning shots versus UConn and St. He moved into the starting lineup as a junior during the 2009–10 campaign to average 14.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and he earned All-Big East Honorable Mention honors. īutler accepted an athletic scholarship to attend Marquette, where, as a sophomore in the 2008–09 season, he averaged 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game and recorded a free-throw percentage of 76.8%.

Considered a two-star recruit by, he was listed as the No. As a senior and team captain in 2006–07, Butler averaged 19.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game and was subsequently voted his team's most valuable player.īutler was not heavily recruited coming out of high school and chose to attend Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas.Īfter his freshman season at Tyler, where he had averaged 18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game, Butler drew interest from Division I programs. I couldn't believe it.' Īs a junior at Tomball High, Butler averaged 10 points per game. Butler would later say, 'They accepted me into their family.

Although his friend's mother and stepfather, who had six other children between them, were reluctant at first, they took him in within a few months. The two immediately became friends, and Butler began staying at Leslie's house. In a summer basketball league before his senior year at Tomball High School, he was noticed by Jordan Leslie, a freshman football and basketball player at the school, who challenged him to a three-point shooting contest. Despite all of this, Butler maintains a close relationship with his parents, saying, 'I don't hold grudges. You gotta go.' He then bounced between the homes of various friends, staying for a few weeks at a time before moving to another house. As Butler remembered it in a 2011 interview, she told him, 'I don't like the look of you. By the time he was 13 years old and living in the Houston suburb of Tomball, his mother kicked him out of the house. His father abandoned the family when Butler was an infant. In 2021, he led the league in steals.īutler was born in Houston on September 14, 1989.

During his first season with the team, Butler reached the NBA Finals. Butler was again traded in November 2018, this time to the Philadelphia 76ers. After six seasons in Chicago, he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in June 2017. In 2015, he was named the NBA Most Improved Player. He played one year of college basketball for Tyler Junior College before transferring to Marquette University.īutler was drafted with the 30th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. Nicknamed ' Jimmy Buckets', he is a six-time NBA All-Star, a four-time All-NBA Team honoree, a five-time NBA All-Defensive Team honoree, and an Olympic gold medalist, having won a gold medal in 2016. Jimmy Butler III (born September 14, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA).