Jimmy Butler once claimed meeting Michael Jordan no longer impressed him: ‘He came and spoke to me by his first name’

Jimmy Butler, who previously worked for sneaker brand Jordan, revealed that he and Michael Jordan go by their first names. Specifically, he was talking about being at Jordan’s birthday parties and how it has become very normal for him.

“It’s not just like a good morning and you keep moving, it’s like a good morning and we have a 30, 40 minute conversation and then you just sit down to dinner.”

Butler explained that Michael Jordan was his idol growing up. In fact, the reason he signed with the Jordan brand in the 2014-15 season was because Jordan was his hero. He left Adidas for a deal that would pay him 75% less to join the Jordan family.

Butler was extremely loyal to the Jordan brand, even refusing to wear Nike shoes. However, when asked why he changed that rule to only wear Jordans, he replied: “Me and Jordan are not in a good space right now.”

Although this was probably one of Jimmy’s famous sarcastic comments, little did he know at the time that he and the Jordan brand would part ways one day.

After splitting from Michael Jordan, what happened next?

Eventually, Butler and Jordan mutually decided to end their business relationship in early 2020. Interestingly, that was 10 months before the date originally stipulated in the contract. After this split, Butler became the hottest sneakerless agent on the market, but not for long.

DIVE DEEPER

Dwyane Wade, former winner of the NBA Finals MVP award for the Heat, had launched his own brand, “Way of Wade” with Chinese giant Li-Ning. Li-Ning then signed Jimmy Butler to a multi-year contract with D’Angelo Russell and CJ McCollum. Additionally, since Butler had said that Wade helped him with advice on how to pursue his career in Miami, it’s safe to say that Wade likely also advised him on the Li-Ning deal.

Butler was Wade’s second coming for Heat fans, they had their only Finals appearance after the Wade era with Butler at the helm in 2020. After 10 long years, Butler gave hope to fans of Heat and is already following in Wade’s footsteps.

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Will the Heat make it back to the final this time around? Let us know what you think in the comments.