April 13--Miss the playoffs. Face the choice whether to play the final two games against bottom-feeders such as the Pelicans and 76ers. Try to limit his minutes.
It doesn't matter. Jimmy Butler will decide when to put the period at the end of his season.
"Nobody can make me do anything. I'm a grown man, first and foremost. I wanted to play. That's that," Butler said of his decision not to sit out. "(Coach Fred Hoiberg) knew how to talk to me. He said, 'Hey, you may have to run point guard.' Oh, it's a wrap. I'm playing now. He knew what to say to make me really, really want to suit up. But I was going to play anyway."
What Butler wants, Butler does. That includes dropping 23 points and 11 assists on the Pelicans, his fifth double-digit assist game this season. It also features Butler checking back in with just more than six minutes left and scoring nine straight points in less than two minutes, including the go-ahead 3-pointer.
"He wanted back in and he wanted to go back in a big way," Hoiberg said. "He kept looking at me. So I caved."
Hoiberg said this facetiously and lightheartedly. But there's no laughing matter about Butler's approach, which he backs with hard work and a two-way game that has landed him two straight All-Star berths. In doing so, Butler has rubbed some within the locker room the wrong way.
In fact, that's another intriguing wrinkle to the free agency of Joakim Noah, who challenged Butler for staying silent at the March 27 team meeting, according to several people present. Butler's relentless style has won over young core pieces like Doug McDermott, whom he invited to San Diego for his no-joke offseason workouts last summer.
As for some veterans? Not so much.
Butler forges ahead anyway.
"I don't want anyone ever to think that I'm quitting on my team because I'm not. And I'm not saying Pau (Gasol) or Derrick (Rose) is either," Butler said, walking a tightrope while explaining his decision to play. "But I love this game. I'm fortunate enough to play it each day. So if I can go out there and compete, that's what I'm going to do.
"I don't like to lose, period. I don't care if we're in the playoffs, out of the playoffs. And if Coach is like, 'Jimmy, you gotta play 48 (minutes),' I don't care what anybody says, that's my decision. I almost didn't want to come off the floor when he asked me to but then I realized it's a team game and other guys need their reps to build their confidence."
Butler logged 29 minutes, 1 second against the Pelicans. Averaging 37.1 minutes, he's on pace to finish third in the league behind James Harden and Kyle Lowry in minutes per game.
In fact, Butler doesn't miss much. Remember: This is a player who went to All-Star weekend despite being injured just to soak up the experience.
"It says a lot," Hoiberg said of Butler's playing the final two games. "It shows that he wants to be the leader of this thing and go out there. I thought he played the right way. He was giving other guys the ball, competed all the way to the finish line."
