Jimmy Butler is finally the alpha dog on his own basketball team, and he is accepting that responsibility in own Jimmy Butler way.
The Miami Heat’s first training camp practice started at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday Butler – who he joined the Heat this offseason via a complicated sign-and-trade involving the Sixers, Blazers, and Clippers – woke up at 3:30 a.m. to get an extra workout in beforehand. For those of you doing the math at home, that’s six and a half hours early.
Butler’s individual motivation has drawn attention before, like when he decided to take the rearview mirrors off of his car as a reminder to never look back in life, or when he joined the third-string Timberwolves during training camp last season to reiterate a message to the front office that he wanted to be traded.
The Heat seem to appreciate Butler’s particular brand of hard work thus far. Team captain Udonis Haslem (a position he has held for 12(!) seasons), likes the leadership Butler has brought to the Heat.
“For me, it helps me just to have a guy on the court that translates the same message as myself, that has the same intensity of myself and is going to require guys to play at his level,” Haslem said.
When Butler decided to sign with the Heat during free agency, the pairing of player and team made sense because of the culture Miami has famously fostered under Pat Riley. Multiple players have said being on the Heat isn’t for everyone due to their demanding standards. Even James Johnson, who has enjoyed the best years of his career in Miami and is on a four-year deal with the team, was sent home from training camp for failing to meet fitness requirements.
But Butler is no ordinary NBA star. This was the first opportunity he had as a professional athlete to pick his own team, and it appears to be a perfect fit.
