Jimmy Butler had nothing but nice words for Derrick Rose after he announced his retirement
Chicago Bulls legend Derrick Rose announced his retirement from the NBA recently, and his former teammate Jimmy Butler was asked about the news as he was gearing up for the upcoming season with the Miami Heat, and he had nothing but nice things to say about him.
“I think what he’s done for the game of basketball, what he’s done for the city of Chicago, for the organization the Chicago Bulls and for myself, I think we should all be grateful that we got the opportunity to compete against him. I got to compete with him,” Jimmy Butler said, via Ball Don’t Lie. “You know, be a coach and just learn from him as a whole man. You know, when I was coming to the league at 21 like he was the man. He put so much fear in so many other individuals’ eyes. You know, to watch his career come to an end, I’m happy for him because he’s happy. He’s going on to do whatever he wants to do, but he ended it the way he wanted to.”
Jimmy Butler on Derrick Rose’s legacy pic.twitter.com/eGNaAd3KUr
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) October 2, 2024
There has been an outpouring of love for Rose since he announced his retirement from the NBA, from fans and players. Rose is remembered fondly for his incredible highs with the Bulls. He won an MVP and had Chicago in contention to win a title during his time there, before he suffered an injury that severely hampered his career.
Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose overlapped multiple times
Butler came into the NBA with the Bulls in the 2011-2012 season, and Rose was the leader of the team when Butler was a developing young player. Later, Rose and Butler overlapped when both had brief stints with the Minnesota Timberwolves. There was rumored friction between the two, so it is good to see that Butler seemingly put that aside, if it did exist, to speak on what Rose has done in his career.
Butler is in the later stages of his career, entering his age 35 season with the Heat, and he is trying to help them get over the hump and win an NBA championship after reaching two finals during his stint. It will be interesting to see if he can get a championship with the Heat before he eventually calls it a career a few years down the line.
Despite any rumored friction, it seems apparent that Butler took valuable lessons from his time playing with Rose with the Bulls.