Heat's Jimmy Butler Says He Spends 'Zero' Time Thinking About His Bulls Tenure

Ahead of the 2020 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago this weekend, Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler isn't feeling nostalgic about his time with the Chicago Bulls.

According to ESPN's Nick Friedell, Butler responded, "Zero," when asked how often he thinks about his Bulls tenure and what might have been had he stayed.

The Bulls made Butler the No. 30 overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft, and he spent the first six years of his career in Chicago before getting traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Butler has been the go-to guy for a Heat team that is fourth in the Eastern Conference at 35-18 this season, and he will be a reserve for Giannis Antetokounmpo's Team Giannis when they face LeBron James' Team LeBron in the All-Star Game on Sunday night.

Jimmy Butler Reel vs 76ers

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There wasn't much hoopla surrounding Butler when he entered the league, and he averaged just 2.6 points per game as a rookie in 46 outings, but he developed into one of the NBA's best two-way players over the next few seasons.

Butler was named an All-Star for the first of four times in a row in 2014-15, which also happened to be the year he was named the NBA's Most Improved Player. Butler is now a five-time All-Star overall, and he has been named to an NBA All-Defensive Team on four occasions.

The 30-year-old Butler's career took off in Chicago, as it is where he became a star and a go-to guy, but the Bulls often fell short of expectations as a team while he was there.

Chicago reached the playoffs in five of Butler's six seasons with the team, but it was never able to get past the second round. When it became clear that they would be unable to sign Butler to a contract extension, the Bulls traded him to Minnesota in 2017.

Butler then spent most of last season with the Philadelphia 76ers prior to a sign-and-trade deal that landed him in Miami during the offseason.

In Miami, Butler is looking to prove that he can be the clear No. 1 player on a team that makes a deep run in the playoffs or perhaps even wins a championship.

While the Milwaukee Bucks are far and away the top team in the Eastern Conference this season, Butler and the Heat are one of their biggest threats, and they strengthened their chances of reaching the Finals by adding veteran wing Andre Iguodala to an already strong core.

Meanwhile, the Bulls are 10th in the Eastern Conference at 19-35 and have not been back to the playoffs since Butler's departure.