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Jimmy Butler on Wolves Players: I Love These Motherf--kers; I Don't Give a F--k
November 3, 2018
Jimmy Butler may be miffed at Minnesota Timberwolves management as he continues to seek a trade, but he told Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes he harbors no ill will toward his teammates.
"These are my guys," Butler said after Friday's loss to the Golden State Warriors. "Look, [my situation] don't got [expletive] to do with me and everybody in this [expletive] locker room. I love these motherf--kers. I'm going to keep it one hundred with you. I love these guys. So, when everybody says, 'Oh, there's going to be a problem in the locker room.' Yeah, all right. Does it look like there's a problem in the locker room?"
Butler added he doesn't "give a f--k" what people think:
"I don't. I swear to you. Because I know where I'm at with my guys. I know how I am as a person. They can write whatever they want, they can say whatever they want and I can address it the way that I want to. But at the end of the day, I go to war with my guys. Those are my guys. We're out there trying to win. Nothing is going to come between us. I'm going to play the right way, do what I do, and they know that. They know that."
Butler, in search of a trade since training camp, has appeared in seven of the Timberwolves' nine games.
Following Friday's loss, Butler reiterated he will continue to sit out certain games to protect his body, per ESPN.com's Nick Friedell:
"I let them know. They don't know how my body feels. So if I'm nicked up, then you can count on that. I don't know. We'll see how it goes. I don't know what we plan on doing tomorrow. Obviously, I got to get some treatment along with a lot of other guys. But we'll see whenever Sunday and Monday gets here.
"I'm not worried about no deal. Injury or not, I got to take care of myself. I realize they have a job to do as an organization; I have one to do as a player. But if I'm not in the right with my body to go out there and do it, I don't want to get hurt. I've been hurt almost every year now, so we're going to take things with caution."
The Houston Rockets and Miami Heat have reportedly been the two most active teams in the market for Butler's services, with the Rockets offering four first-round picks for the four-time All-Star, according to ESPN.com's Adrian Wojnarowski.
However, the Timberwolves pushed back against that offer because it didn't include 2016-17 Sixth Man of the Year Eric Gordon, who would be a "mandatory" component of any package, per ESPN.com's Malika Andrews.
As far as a timetable for a deal goes, Wojnarowski said on The Lowe Post he would "be shocked" if Butler isn't moved by Thanksgiving.
Butler, 29, is in the final guaranteed year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent if he declines his player option for 2019-20.