Jimmy Butler Is Either the Greatest Coworker Ever or the Worst Coworker Ever
Would you ever show up six-and-a-half hours early to your shift at work?
No?
Well, you and Jimmy Butler aren't built the same then. But you probably already knew that.
The Heat's free-agent prize of this past summer showed up for practice at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinal.
"Just a little extra work while y'all in your third dream. I like to get it in," Butler said. "How did I get in today? I clocked in at 3:30. You're asleep, right?"
Yeah, Jimmy, a large majority of us are asleep at 3:30 a.m.
Coach Erik Spoelstra described Butler as having a "Hall of Fame work ethic" and that certainly seems to be accurate. You are only showing up that early because you want to be even greater than you already are and make sure you don't cheat yourself out of reaching your maximum potential.
But it's also the type of behavior that will either make others fall in love with you for trying so hard or hate you relentlessly for being a try-hard.
We all know Jimmy Buckets doesn't have the greatest reputation when it comes to building relationships with teammates after the infamous practice story from the start of last season when he was with the Timberwolves.
But at the same time, there's a lot of people who would look at Butler dominating the starters with the third-stringers as proof that he is actually a great teammate. You ever hear about Kobe empowering the guys on the bench by not shooting and allowing those guys to be a part of a blowout victory over the projected starters? Exactly.
When you get as intense as Jimmy Butler can, it either makes people want to gravitate to you because they want somebody that impassioned on their side, or it pushes people away because they don't need that much energy around them if it can at times come off as combative.
What happens when the Heat are in the middle of a 28 stretch and start dropping in the standings?
However, what if his teammates actually love that type of drive and desire to be great while also being just aggressive enough to scare off anybody who isn't actually ready to ride for the cause?
So, it appears Jimmy Butler is either going to be one of your favorite people to work with or one of your least favorite people to work with.
Luckily for him, Spoelstra and team president Pat Riley, Miami seems like the perfect place for this intensity to be accepted and praised.