Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler III (born September 14, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Nicknamed "Jimmy Buckets" and "Playoff Jimmy", he is a six-time NBA All-Star, a five-time All-NBA Team honoree, and a five-time NBA All-Defensive Second Team honoree.

Butler was born in Houston on September 14, 1989.

His father abandoned the family when Butler was an infant.

By the time he was 13 years old and living in the Houston suburb of Tomball, his mother kicked him out of the house.

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.

Butler was not heavily recruited coming out of high school and chose to attend Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas.

After his freshman season at Tyler Junior College, where he had averaged 18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game, Butler drew interest from Division I programs.

Considered a two-star recruit by 247Sports.com, he was listed as the No. 127 junior college prospect in 2008.

Butler 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%.

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.

His season was highlighted by two game-winning shots versus UConn and St. John's, to help Marquette finish 11–7 in the Big East and earn its fifth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.

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.

He was selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls.

As Butler remembered it in a 2011 interview, she told him, "I don't like the look of you. 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.

Despite all of this, Butler maintains a close relationship with his parents, saying, "I don't hold grudges. I still talk to my family. My mom. My father. We love each other. That's never going to change."

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.

The two immediately became friends, and Butler began staying at Leslie's house.

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.

Butler would later say, "They accepted me into their family. And it wasn't because of basketball. She [Michelle Lambert, Leslie's mother] was just very loving. She just did stuff like that. I couldn't believe it."

As a junior at Tomball High, Butler averaged 10 points per game.

Butler was selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls.

He saw limited opportunities in his rookie year, playing 42 games during the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season.

The following season, he played all 82 games for the Bulls.

After playing limited minutes to begin the 2012–13 season, he saw significant minutes over the second half of the season, including starting all 12 playoff games.

In an April 9, 2013, regular season game, Butler scored a then career-high 28 points in a 101–98 loss against the Toronto Raptors.

Two days later, he recorded his first NBA double-double game with 22 points and a then career-high 14 rebounds against the New York Knicks.

The 2013–14 season saw Butler miss 15 games due to injury, limiting him to 67 games.

He averaged a career-high 38.7 minutes per game, which ranked first in the NBA.

He scored a season-high 26 points against the Memphis Grizzlies on December 30.

In 2015, he was named the NBA Most Improved Player.

He won a gold medal as a member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic team.

Butler played one year of college basketball for Tyler Junior College before transferring to Marquette University.

After six seasons in Chicago, he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in June 2017.

Butler was again traded in November 2018, this time to the Philadelphia 76ers.

In July 2019, he signed with the Heat.

During his first season with the team, Butler reached the NBA Finals.

In 2021, he led the league in steals.

In 2023, he led the eighth-seeded Heat to their second NBA Finals in four years.