Thoughts on Jimmy Butler as a leader

I think something that needs to be considered, and isn't being talked about, is that for the great majority of Jimmy's life and time as a basketball player, he was not a prestigious player or leader.

I think a leadership role is something that's still relatively new to him. And because of his unique circumstance by which he's stumbled into it this new role so quickly, he's having to force his adaptation to it. And it's not going all that well so far.

He's got some learning and figuring out to do. Most other marquee players in the NBA were the best of the best in basketball for their entire lives and grew up being looked to as leaders, whether verbally or by example or both.

I think Jimmy is really smart, and regardless of whether he's a little bit of an asshole or not, I think he'll figure out how to be a better leader as time goes on. And one final point to consider is that he really didn't begin his ascension to stardom until he teamed up with Buzz Williams who demanded excellence from him to an extent he'd never dealt with in his life. and then from there, he came straight to the hard-nosed Bulls defensive culture under Thibs. This is really the first time since he became a highly successful basketball player that he doesn't have a coach who's riding his ass 24/7 and I think that's gonna take some adjusting for him as well.