Duke basketball's Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer (Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports)
Jimmy Butler Puts Duke Basketball Champ in Odd All-Time Starting Five
Miami Heat guard Jimmy Butler is a jokester who often entertains by not taking questions seriously. That much was evident this week when the six-time All-Star named 2010 Duke basketball national champ Kyle Singler — no disrespect to the now-35-year-old retired hoopster — in his selection of an all-time NBA starting five.
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Using a social media filter that displays a franchise at random for each position, with the purpose of the exercise being to name each's all-time top player at that position, the video below is of Butler revealing his hilarious lineup (note: the Houston Rockets appeared twice).
Good luck trying to figure out a common theme between the players he picked, other than he went out of his way to avoid any logical answers, seemingly thinking of names that might draw the most laughs for their randomness:
- PG: Donte DiVincenzo (Golden State Warriors)
- SG: Steve Novak (Houston Rockets)
- SF: Kyle Singler (Detroit Pistons)
- PF: Scott Padgett (Rockets)
- C: Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks)
Kyle Singler, the 2010 Final Four Most Outstanding Player while shining alongside now-Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer on the way to the program's fourth of now-five national titles, is among the most accomplished Blue Devil greats who didn't get their jerseys retired in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Across 148 games as a beloved Duke basketball player, drawing 147 starts, he averaged 16.2 points and 6.9 rebounds while shooting 43.3 percent from the field. Plus, he was an All-ACC Tournament First Team selection for all three conference championship teams in his career (2009, 2010, 2011).
And sure, following a season in Spain after going No. 33 overall to the Detroit Pistons at the 2011 NBA Draft, he did carve out a respectable six-year NBA career. His most productive stretch came in his first two years as a durable piece to Detroit's rotation (he played all 82 games in each of those seasons, averaging 9.2 points and 3.9 rebounds).
During Singler's third season in the league, the Pistons traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He spent the next three years there, averaging 6.5 points and 2.9 boards before returning to Spain for a season and calling it a day on his professional basketball career in 2019.
His mention by Butler was a joke (they were never NBA teammates but did face each other in college, a Duke win over Marquette at the CBE Classic in November 2010).
Perhaps, though, one could say it's, in a way, some show of respect.
Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI.com for more Duke basketball news.
