Jimmy Butler dominated the first round of the NBA playoffs. After scoring 56 and 42 points to close out the series, he led the Miami Heat an 8 seed to a series victory against the number 1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks. The media can’t stop raving about how well Jimmy has been playing, but that’s only because they never really expected it. That is nothing new because Jimmy Butler is literally the most underrated basketball player we have ever seen at the NBA level, and it’s about time we give him the credit he deserves. Jimmy Butler is not only an NBA superstar, but he is a future Hall of Famer, because his resume reflects that, even if the media hasn’t really been paying attention.

Jimmy Butler comes from humble beginnings

First things first, Jimmy Butler has quite literally beat the odds to make it to the NBA. In fact no high school coach in their right mind would have told him that he could have gotten close. Jimmy Butler had an incredibly rough home life, and in the midst of bouncing around from home to home he only played varsity basketball for his final two seasons of high school. After averaging nearly 20 points and 9 rebounds as a Senior he was entirely unranked and basically unrecruited. So he chose to attend Junior College. What matters is that even though he led his team in scoring, and helped them to a national ranking spot, he was not named a JUCO All American, yet Marquette took a chance on him where he would continue his basketball career.

Jimmy played 1 seasons of JUCO basketball and 3 seasons at Marquette, and in his final 2 seasons he wasn’t even given All conference honors in the Big East. Instead they gave him “honorable mention”. Which is pretty funny because their Jimmy Butler led Marquette team still made the Sweet 16 during March Madness.

The disrespect of Jimmy Butler and his talents on the basketball court didn’t end in college. He was drafted in the first round of the 2011 NBA draft, as the last pick by the Chicago Bulls. But you have to consider the names that were taken ahead of him. Jordan Hamilton, Marshon Brooks, Chris Singleton, and even Derrick Williams were taken ahead of him. They all play Jimmy Butler’s position and are no longer in the league by now! They barely let him on the court as a rookie, and due to injuries saw his first real playing time in his second year in the league. But by his fourth season, he was an NBA All Star and the Most Improved Player in the League.

Teams don’t appreciate Jimmy Butler

People see Jimmy Butler as the little engine that could. The giant killer who was never supposed to make it this far. But I just can’t buy that because Jimmy Butler has proven, at every level that he has played it that he is legit. The only reason he doesn’t win the awards is because you’re not allowed to vote for yourself. Jimmy has never been awarded anything past the All NBA third team, and we continue to get surprised by his playoff heroics, which I’m getting to by the way. The truth is that above all else, Jimmy Butler is the NBA’s version of a Tim Tebow. A guy who has a position on the scouting report, but basically is just a baller. He figures out a way to help his team win, regardless of what that looks like. And that is the biggest thing people are disrespecting.

After being traded from the Bulls, he was basically dismissed as a cancer on the team by the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that his still yet to figure out how to get out the first round without him. The truth about that situation is that the Timberwolves weren’t a tem with a winning culture, and Jimmy Butler wanted to win. So he basically forced his way out to a team that actually did. He was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers midseason and later they let him walk in free agency, choosing Ben Simmons over him. Need I say more?

Jimmy Butler is a winner

To call Jimmy Butler a winner, is perhaps the understatement of the year. Not only does he help his teams win, but he keeps doing it when all the odds are stacked against him. Jimmy Butler, who has never made the All NBA first or second team, was the best player on the Miami Heat when they made the NBA Finals in the bubble. For the record that series went 6 games, with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo leading the Heat against LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Heat were never supposed to even make it to the NBA Finals as the fifth seed in the playoffs. Leading a team to the NBA Finals is so hard, that you need a Hall of Fame player to do it. Not one team since the year 1990 has made the Finals without one to lead them. Which means Jimmy Butler has to be at least that good, because he is the best player on the Heat.

This year the Heat beat the number 1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. To be clear, every legit expert said the Bucks were “for real”, including Richard Jefferson and J.J. Redick, so it wasn’t just me on that train. However, that win is also such a big deal because it is only the fifth time in league history that an 8 seed has made it out of the first round. Every team that did it before either needed 6 games to do it, or went to a final sudden death elimination “back when the first round was only 5 games and not 7”. The Heat pulled it off in 5, with Jimmy Butler performing like the best player in the league, against the man I would have given that title to. 

The Bottom Line

Jimmy Butler may not have all the accolades, and he might not have all the endorsements, but he is as underrated as an NBA superstar can come. You can have Kawhi Leonard or even Kevin Durant on your team, and they might have better average stats during the regular season (at least for however long they actual stay on the court). But if you are going into a playoff series, and you need a player to lead your team, Jimmy Butler has proven he is about as good as they come. He is a future Hall of Famer when all is said and done. He is also proof that is doesn’t really matter what they say about you, because if you do your job well enough, they will miss you more than a little when you are gone.

KNOW THE GAME. WIN THE GAME.

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