home jobs contact us
Our Clients:
Browse by Sport
Find us on ASAP sports on Facebook ASAP sports on Twitter
ASAP Sports RSS Subscribe to RSS
Click to go to
Asaptext.com
ASAPtext.com
ASAP Sports e-Brochure View our
e-Brochure

NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND


February 17, 2017


Jimmy Butler


New Orleans, Louisiana

Q. Jimmy, do you prefer to let your actions speak louder than your words in terms of your mentality about equality, social justice and change?
JIMMY BUTLER: Definitely. Talk is just talk. Until you go out there and actually make it happen, both on the basketball court and in life. You can't just talk about it. You've got to go out there and actually do it. Talk about it, be about it, all those good sayings. Actions speak louder than words.

Q. Did you like the Nike equality campaign?
JIMMY BUTLER: Yeah, I paid attention to it. I mean, I'm a Jordan guy, but I paid attention to it because I like a lot of those players. I think what they're doing is real, is genuine.

Q. Speaking of Jordan, it's his birthday today.
JIMMY BUTLER: It is.

Q. Did you get anything for him?
JIMMY BUTLER: I don't know. That's a good question. I probably should get Mike something, as much as he does for me with my sneakers and all that good stuff.

Q. How is your relationship with Mike and how has he inspired you?
JIMMY BUTLER: Come on, Mike is Mike. He's an icon on the floor, off the floor. What he's done for Chicago and the game of basketball, all of that. The guy is incredible. He's always in my corner. If I ever need somebody to talk to about anything, I could pick up the phone and call him, even though I've probably got a lot of other people to bother. Who knows, every once in a while, I'll bother him.

Q. Jimmy Butler, when you came to the Bulls, they were pretty close to LeBron and the Heat, and Derrick [Rose] was healthy and it looked good. Since then, it's been a rough go for the Bulls.
JIMMY BUTLER: So it's my fault?

Q. No. That's the question. How difficult is it for you that your career has kind of gone up, yet the team has not followed that same path?
JIMMY BUTLER: I just try to get better. Win some games when we can. I'm not going to say that I'm the reason that we got worse. I'm not going to say that, like you just made it sound. Don't worry about it, though. It's okay. I don't know. We'll be better moving forward? What do you want me to do? Go downward? Does me getting worse make us better?

Q. But isn't it a challenge for some players who are on team that are not championship contenders, but yet they're star players? You want to be on a winner, right? Is there a frustration to be as good as you are and not be on a winning team?
JIMMY BUTLER: I think we're in a decent spot right now. We're in the playoffs as of right now. Yeah, we can be a lot better. Just the way you worded that question really got me feeling a type of way, man.

Q. What subtle offensive moves has D-Wade taught you?
JIMMY BUTLER: Probably a lot of fadeaways. I think he does that now more than anything because he doesn't have that athletic ability as he used to. We're constantly in the gym together. He's teaching me as much as I can handle on a basketball court. But even more than that, it's off the court -- how to take care of your body, how to handle this, how to handle that. Basketball is only a portion of it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP sports

tech 129
About ASAP SportsFastScripts ArchiveRecent InterviewsCaptioningUpcoming EventsContact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297