By Pierre-Andréa Fraile | Sports journalist
Despite the low expectations that surrounded him at the start of his career, Jimmy Butler established himself as a star in the NBA and reaped the salaries that this status engenders. At 35 years old, he was therefore unfiltered about his earnings and his approach to this subject.
A relatively anonymous prospect when he left university, he was not highly rated by scouts NBA. And yet, Jimmy Butler was able to assert itself in a remarkable way. First as a simple role player in the ranks of the Bulls, then secondly as a star of the franchise. A notable development on the floor which was reflected in certain off-field areas.
For example, after four seasons spent with one of the most modest salaries for the league, the winger obtained his first big contract in 2015. A trend that has only continued since, with ever higher amounts included. This, until reaching more than 45 million dollars last season at the Heatand thus total nearly $264M in career earnings to date. A number still expected to increase.
Jimmy Butler sets the record straight on his greed
Under contract until 2026 with Miami, Butler has a player option that he could decline next summer in order to sign a new, even more lucrative lease. In this case, his income could explode if he obtained various rewards at the end of the season, assuming he played a minimum of 65 matches. During a recent post-training interview, he was clear about his ambitions in this regard:
Jimmy Butler : I want to play as many matches as possible. I’ll stick to that. I don’t need to give a specific number of matches I would like to play. I know that the more matches I play, the more chances my team will have of winning.
It therefore seems clear that Jimmy Buckets wants to stay away from the Heat infirmary.
However, according to him, this would have nothing to do with the quest for a final juicy contract. He thus believes that he has already built up a fortune large enough to worry about this, and now prefers to focus his efforts on winning a title:
Jimmy Butler : If we want to be completely honest, no matter what I do, right now, nothing is going to allow me to earn more money. Even if I don’t care about the money. All this All-NBA team stuff, blah, blah, blah: none of that will matter. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m rich enough to only care about winning.
A most sensible approach, since it could, after all, allow him to combine sporting and financial success within a few months.
Despite the importance of the season ahead for him economically, Jimmy Butler assures that he no longer worries about his future earnings. Sufficiently wealthy, he therefore only has one objective in mind, namely the conquest of a first championship ring.
