Back in October, Jimmy Butler made headlines for a dramatic practice with the Minnesota Timberwolves, just three weeks after he had requested a trade. The four-time All-Star reportedly confronted his teammates, coaches, and front-office executives, specifically calling out general manager Scott Layden.
"You fucking need me. You can't win without me," Butler allegedly shouted at Layden, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Shortly after he stepped on to the practice floor, in which Butler scrimmaged with the Timberwolves' third-string, he had appeared on a televised interview with Rachel Nichols. This, of course, led many to believe that Butler's antics were all for all for publicity; however, he insists that wasn't the case.
Butler shed more light on the now-infamous incident during a recent appearance on J.J. Redick's podcast. He explained the events leading up to his defiance and how the Nichols sit-down had nothing to do with his behavior.
"What happened was: This interview was planned three weeks ahead of time to talk about what was going on," Butler said. "So I would keep going into the office talking with management, talking with Thibs (Minnesota head coach Tom Thibodeau) and they would be like, 'Hey, you need to come in and practice.' I was like, 'Thibs, what I need to come in and practice for? Y'all gonna trade me.' What’s the point of practicing—going in there, getting up and down—and then I'm gonna be gone in a day?"
Butler went on to admit that he has a problem with authority and that he doesn't like being told what to do. So, after his coaches ignored his challenge and demanded he participate, Butler became defiant.
"I'm like: 'Let me tell you something, if I'm going to practice, I'll come off the bench, like I'll play with this second group if I want to as long as I'm out there in practice,'" he recalled. "This person goes: 'No, you're gonna play with the starters.' There you go. You did got me now. No I'm not. I’m gonna play with the third-stringers, now what? I'm telling them I don’t think it’s a good idea to do it, because I know whenever I go in there, I'm trying to basically just prove a point."
And he did. ESPN reported Butler completely dominated the scrimmage, so much so that the "coaches and players were largely speechless." But the most impressive part of his performance is that he allegedly shot the ball only one time.
"Oh, I was dominating, but I only shot the ball once," he revealed. "Dimes, boom, boom, boom. Steals, blocks. I only shot the ball one time."
Butler also spoke about his most recent altercation with Blake Griffin. The two exchanged some heated words on Friday, during the Pistons-Sixers matchup in Detroit.
"Locked that up," Butler said about going head-to-head with the power forward. "Blake can't score on me. I don't care what you say. You heard that, Blake. Ain't worried about you."
You can listen to the full podcast episode here.
