“I Brought That Dog Out of Him..”: 5’9 NBA Veteran Who Dunked on 7’1 Shaquille O’Neal, Claims Credit for Fine Tuning Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler has become one of the best players in the league. He has led the Miami Heat to two Finals appearances in just four seasons. That is why when playoffs roll around, a lot of attention turns towards the two-way phenom. However, he didn’t arrive on the NBA scene as a highly regarded player, especially on the offensive end. But he worked his way to being a part of the Chicago Bulls and reached unprecedented heights. From being a non-factor offensive as a young player, he steadily earned the nickname Jimmy G “Buckets”.

One retired NBA player claims he played a huge role in his offensive development.

Jimmy Butler’s dramatic growth

Jimmy Butler almost 27 points a game during the 2023 Playoffs. He averaged 27.4 Points during the last playoffs and has averaged over 20 points repeatedly.

Since 2014, he has averaged over 20 points a game and has developed his shooting at a high rate. However, when he declared for the draft in 2011, such things weren’t expected. He went 30th in the draft and the Bulls banked upon him as a deep rotation player.

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During his rookie season, he averaged just around two points but played just eight minutes a game. In his sophomore season, he averaged around eight points and played 26 minutes. In his third season, he averaged almost 39 minutes, averaging 13 points.

It was in his fourth season when he started averaging 20 points or more, which was a landmark year. From there on, he kept getting better. One of his teammates during the 2012-13 was Nate Robinson, who acted as a replacement for Derrick Rose when he was going through his injury phase.

Robinson talked about the season he played with Bthere,utler and highlighted his role as his mentor. He sat down in Gil’s Arenas to discuss the issue. He said, “Man, I had to bring that out of Jimmy. When I was there I brought that dog out of him. He was only a defensive guy”.

The Guard continued how he told Jimmy he could be a better offensive option.

Nate Robinson who once dunked over Shaquille O’Neal motivated Butler

Going further into the subject, the Guard continued, ”Bro, you are so much better than just being a defensive dude. When you are playing D, reward yourself on the offense. You can play both. We run the offense, I am like, bro you don’t shoot, we are playing four on five. Bro, you ain’t try to be aggressive. I had to tell him, be more aggressive.”

It is clear Robinson’s advice worked. In the 2000s, he was himself a great scorer and three-time Slam Dunk champion despite being only 5’9″. When he was a teammate of 7’1″ Shaquille O’Neal, he dunked over him in a hilarious practice sequence.

As Butler now commands two-way respect, Shaq’s former teammate must be full of pride, after giving him the ignition. 

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