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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",[1][2][3][4] 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. He won a gold medal as a member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic team.

For other people with similar names, see Jimmy Butler (disambiguation).

No. 22 – Miami Heat

NBA

(1989-09-14) September 14, 1989
Houston, Texas, U.S.

6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)

230 lb (104 kg)

2011: 1st round, 30th overall pick

2011–present

Butler played one year of college basketball for Tyler Junior College before transferring to Marquette University. He was selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. In 2015, he was named the NBA Most Improved Player. 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.

Early life

Butler was born in Houston on September 14, 1989.[5][6] 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 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.[7] 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."[8][9]


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."[7]


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

College career

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,[10] he was listed as the No. 127 junior college prospect in 2008.[11]


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.

Personal life

While attending Marquette, Butler earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications.[145][146]


Butler is a fan of country and emo music. He starred in the music video of the country song "Light It Up" by Luke Bryan[147] and the emo song "So Much (for) Stardust" by Fall Out Boy.[148] He is good friends with Mark Wahlberg, whom he met while Wahlberg was filming Transformers: Age of Extinction in Chicago. The two have vacationed in Paris together.[149]


Butler became a fan of soccer during the 2016 Summer Olympics, after watching Neymar Jr. play for Brazil. He cites Paris Saint Germain as his favorite team and Neymar as his favorite player.[150] [151]


Butler has a daughter with lifestyle model Kaitlin Nowak, and he did not make his Heat debut until the fourth game of the 2019–20 NBA season, as he was on paternity leave after the birth.[152]


In the NBA Bubble, Butler opened Big Face Coffee, a side business which he operated out of his hotel room using his French press coffee brewer, charging $20 per cup.[153] A year later, he officially launched his coffee brand, and planned to dedicate his time into the coffee roastery business post-retirement.[154]


During the 2023 NBA playoffs, Butler filed a trademark on the name "Himmy Butler" for the purpose of launching his own clothing and beverage brand. The nickname "Himmy" came from the meme phrase "he's him", which rose in popularity during the Heat's Butler-led run during that postseason.[155][156]


Butler is a Christian.[157]

List of National Basketball Association career playoff triple-double leaders

Career statistics and player information from  and Basketball-Reference.com

NBA.com

Marquette Golden Eagles bio

at IMDb

Jimmy Butler