'He was mad': Ex-teammate reveals NBA All-Star's contempt for white players

Sports Reporter

Mon, 30 Mar 2020, 2:13 am·2-min read

Jimmy Butler is a famously ruthless competitor - as former teammate JJ Redick found out before they teamed up for Philadelphia. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Some of the best players in NBA history shared a little bit of a bullying streak, and whie Jimmy Buter has a long way to go before he reaches the top, there’s no doubt the Miami Heat star has the ruthlessness of a champion.

With the NBA season in limbo due to the coronavirus, players have used their time off to share stories about each other until competition can resume - and Butler’s fiery on court demeanour came up in a conversation between New Orleans sharpshooter JJ Redick and Heat gunner Duncan Robinson on the former’s podcast.

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Redick, himself a former teammate of Butler’s when the pair played for the Philadelphia 76ers, revealed Butler was almost offended when guarded by him during Butler’s stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

As Butler dropped 38 points on Redick, who he would later team up with after being traded to Philly, the five-time All-Star was adamant no white player in the league was capable of guarding him.

“I guarded him on the block,” Redick said.

“And he later told me that he was mad they put a white guy on him.”

Robinson, an undrafted guard who fought his way onto the Heat roster this season, backed up Redick’s assessment of his teammate.

“He lets me know regularly in practice if we’re ever matched up that I can’t guard him,” Robinson added.

The Heat held the fourth seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference before the 2019/20 season was suspended indefinitely, boasting a 41-24 record.

LeBron James’ bold statement for return of NBA

There’s talk that when the league does return to action, it will do so cautiously and without fans in arenas. LeBron James is not excited about this idea.

He made his feelings clear in a conversation with Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye and Allie Clifton on the “Road Trippin’” podcast released Thursday.

“What is the word 'sport' without 'fan'?" James asked.

"There's no excitement. There's no crying. There's no joy. There's no back-and-forth.

“That's what also brings out the competitive side of the players to know that you're going on the road in a hostile environment and, yes, you're playing against that opponent in front of you, but you really want to kick the fans' ass too.”