BUNCH OF BULL
BUTLER DISPUTES EX- MATES’ NOTION HE’S A ‘ DIVA’
OMAHA, Neb. — Bulls star Jimmy Butler wants to be done talking about last season. That doesn’t mean last season is quite finished with him.
Former Bulls spent the 2015- 16 season and this offseason characterizing Butler as a diva. One said there were a handful of shootarounds last season in which Butler didn’t even bother to tie his shoes.
Butler and other teammates said that wasn’t true. But Butler said he knows where such stories are coming from and doesn’t care.
‘‘ Am I a diva? I don’t call it that,’’ Butler said before the Bulls’ 97- 81 preseason loss Thursday against the Atlanta Hawks. ‘‘ My will to win rubs people the wrong way sometimes. I can blame it on that, but I won’t apologize for it. Never will.
‘‘[ The talk] doesn’t hurt my feelings at all. I don’t have too many feelings when it comes to this basketball thing. I think everyone wants to be successful, wants to be the best, and I want to play with guys that work for that.
‘‘ I’m going to keep working, and if people don’t like it, people want to say what they want to say, that’s fine. I know — and I think these guys know — where my heart is and how I want to do right by everybody.’’
The players Butler has done right by are the young guys on the roster. He always has made it a point to get young players in the gym for extra work. Players such as Doug McDermott and Bobby Portis swear by him.
That wasn’t exactly the treatment Butler received from Derrick Rose and Co. when he came into the league.
And what the Bulls’ front office appreciates about Butler is his willingness to help recruit free agents. In Butler’s eyes, that’s the trend in the NBA, especially if a player has title aspirations.
Not that Butler has been innocent in all of this. According to multiple sources, a big reason Rose and Joakim Noah grew tired of Butler’s act was because they felt he anointed himself the leader and did so by jumping the line.
Butler doesn’t deny that, but he felt he had the right to jump the line because he was one of the few starters willing to put all the work in. One source said Butler thought too many of the Bulls veterans were content with coasting.
‘‘ The [ young players] here see Jimmy Butler, the two- time AllStar, the Olympian, a 20- point-per- game scorer, the player I have been since a lot of these young guys came into the league,’’ Butler said. ‘‘ They didn’t see the guy that was trying to get off the bench, like other people have, and I don’t need to say names.
‘‘ So as my role changed, the way I go about the game changed. If I’m not playing well, I’m hurting my team because I’m supposed to be a reason we win. Now the way I handle my business is: ‘ Look, man, I want to win. I don’t give a [ bleep] if you like me or not. I’m here to win.’ ’’
By all accounts, Butler’s attitude throughout training camp this season has been stellar. He not only is interacting well with new teammates Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo, but he has a much better re- lationship with coach Fred Hoiberg.
Will that translate into more victories? Butler has no clue. But he likes that everyone finally seems to be on the same page.
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