Jimmy Butler has been emerging as one of the most slept-on players in the league. The NBA world knew that he was talented, but he has been leading the Miami Heat on the court almost single-handedly at times. Butler’s career has been a rollercoaster ride, to say the least. The hunt for his first NBA title continues despite playing for the Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Miami Heat.
The Bulls drafted Jimmy at No.30 in the 2011 NBA Draft. He could not make a name for himself right away, playing only 42 games that season. He managed to feature in all of the regular season games the following year but could only average just 8.6 points and 4 rebounds. His breakthrough season came in 2014 when he averaged 20 points that season.
Even though he didn’t have superstar status right off the bat, Jimmy boasted a deal with a reputed brand Adidas. He signed with the brand as a rookie and stayed for only three years. Butler chose to leave Adidas, for one special brand, Michael Jordan’s.
Jimmy said through The Player’s Tribune, “Growing up, we couldn’t even afford Jordans. We just looked at it and wished, ‘One day Imma have it, it’s coming but I don’t know when. Whenever I did leave a former brand [Adidas] that I was with, I had an opportunity to sign. It has been a great experience, I’ve met incredible people, Mike himself, he’s just an incredible human being. It’s like a family man.”
Jimmy stayed with Adidas until the Jordan brand approached him. As expected, Michael Jordan is a huge figure in any basketball fan’s life. The 6x NBA champ has been a role model for millions of fans over the world and it wasn’t any different with Butler too.
Why did Jimmy Butler leave Adidas for the Jordan brand?
Happy Walters (Jimmy’s former agent) mentioned to Chicago Business that his client had taken a 75% pay cut to sign with the Jordan brand. Although this would be surprising to many, the prospect of working with one of the most influential figures in the sporting world was too tempting for Butler.
He also said that he enjoyed sharing a connection with the personnel at the Jordan brand. Moreover, Butler mentioned that his dream was to own just one pair of Jordans. Considering how big of a fan he was on MJ, it is not a huge surprise he chose Jordan over Adidas.
The Heat superstar left Jordan brand eventually and signed with Li-Ning. For those who don’t know, Heat legend Dwyane Wade is also an ambassador for the Chinese brand.
Jimmy Butler and Jordan Brand have mutually agreed to part ways, per @NickDePaula
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) January 2, 2020
One may question why Jimmy threw away his dream deal, but reports at the time suggested that he was after a signature shoe deal. However, the Jordan brand were not able to fulfill his wishes. There haven’t been many to have a signature shoe deal with the brand, but the list includes Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, and Zion Williamson.
Whatever the case, it looks like Butler lived his dream for quite some time before moving on to bigger goals. Moreover, he has been performing well while being signed to Li-Ning, which could suggest that he might stick with them for a while more.
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