Jimmy Butler: Bulls Were 'Cheap' Not Offering Supermax Contract; Explains 76ers Exit

Jimmy Butler detailed his exit from multiple former teams including the Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers.

“Chicago was being cheap, actually," Butler explained, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. "They didn’t want to pay me the supermax. It wasn’t about the money in other places. It was about winning. And with winning comes everything else that you could want. With winning comes the money. With winning comes the fame."

“If you do it for the women, if you do it for the cars, if you do it for the houses, if you do it for the private flights — you win, you get all of that," he added. "So everything that I’ve always done after that (first) contract was legitimately based off of winning.”

The six-time All-Star spent the first six years of his career with the Bulls before he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2017. Butler was then dealt to the Philadelphia 76ers in the middle of the 2018-19 season before joining the Miami Heat during the ensuing summer.

Butler explained that part of the reason he left the 76ers was because he heard leadership say they’d have him back “if they could control him," per Slater.

“That’s too hard to do,” Butler said. “You can’t control grown men in this line of work. You can try, but I’m going to do what I want to do. I’m going to show up. I’m going to compete and I’m going to help us win."

The 35-year-old revealed that the Miami Heat displayed a similar approach as Philadelphia, which led to his request to be traded and his eventual move to the Golden State Warriors prior to the Feb. 6 deadline.

“So you can be mad," Butler said, via Slater. "You can paint a picture that is not entirely true. I don’t even need to get into that. They know what they’re doing. You got to paint somebody to be the bad guy. I’ll take being a bad guy. Makes no difference. I’m here now. I’m competing at a high level and I’m helping the Golden State Warriors win. They want me here. Hell, I’m cool with being a bad guy over there.”

Butler has thrived following the change of scenery, with Golden State owning a record of 16-3 in his 19 appearances since the trade. He's averaged 17.6 points, 6.5 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game after the swap.

He also owns the best net rating among all Warriors players to appear in at least 10 games this season (via NBA.com).

Butler's departure from his past teams hasn't always gone smoothly, but he appears to be content with his new organization.