In this interview segment from The Jump, host Rachael Nichols questions NBA star Jimmy Butler about his turbulent season with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Butler explains that his primary grievance was a lack of appreciation from the organization, not points or defensive schemes. He describes a locker‑room divide where some players’ commitment to winning differed, leading to tension, especially involving Andrew Wiggins. Butler clarifies that trade‑request rumors stem from public reports, but he had been communicating his feelings to coach‑president Tom Thibodeau throughout the summer, well before the media surge. He confirms the team offered a four‑year, $110 million extension, but his focus was on respect and a clear role rather than money. Butler also comments on the social‑media frenzy, including a meme and a tweet from Wiggins’ brother, and notes that Thibodeau publicly said the situation could be fixed without a trade. Throughout, Butler emphasizes honesty, his desire to be valued, and his willingness to stay if the organization shows genuine commitment.
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I want to go back and talk about how we got to this point, but I do want to make it clear to everybody watching here, the collective bargaining agreement says that you cannot talk about wanting a trade, you cannot talk about asking someone for a trade, you will get heavily fined if you do that. We are not asking you to sit here and get fined. However, I am going to talk about published reports that are a matter of public record, that the reports said that you said in meetings that you wanted to trade. So that is how we will have this conversation. And I want to go back because the first thing we saw last we saw of you publicly with Tibbs here in Minnesota was that press conference at the Mall of America. You guys are both riding so high being back united with each other. You start the season. When do you start to realize that things are going wrong or not the way that you want them to be?
It just all goes back to telling the truth and being honest with myself, with me being honest with them, with them being honest with me. And you just look at it. And the whole thing is, I just wanna be appreciated. That's it.
Okay.
It's not about anything else. Not the defense, not the points. It's the passion, the heart that I play with on every single possession. And that's all that it is.
We hear a lot of chatter about the Wolves locker room and the guys don't get along. What is the real story about what's going on in the locker room between you guys?
Everybody has to have winning as their number one priority. Everybody— winning is all that we're worried about.
Did you feel that that wasn't the case with everyone?
I'm not gonna say no names.
Yeah.
But I'mma be honest. If your number one priority isn't winning and people can tell, that's the battle. Now there's a problem between people because that guy's number one priority is winning and that guy's isn't. Of course they gonna clash. Like, "I'm doing it for the team." Are you? Mm, exactly. So that's where the disconnect is.
Wiggins attacking.
Wiggins!
Oh!
Butler, a step-back 3 is good! Jimmy Butler! The drought is finally over.
You go through the season, you were hurt, came back. You guys had that stirring return to get into the playoffs. Playoff series against the number 1 seed.
That's a really good team, too, by the way.
You didn't fly home with the rest of the team after the last game—
Correct.
—of your first-round playoff series. After the season ended, Did you talk to Coach Tibbs?
Yes, I did.
So when you guys talked even over the phone after the season was over—
He knows how I felt.
How soon after the season did you tell him how you feel?
4 days.
4 days after the season?
4.
How clear were you?
Have you ever known me to hide anything?
I'm just asking.
Look what happened today at breakfast.
I know.
Have you ever known me to hold back?
Mm-hmm.
No. I was completely honest about everything, about everything.
And about what you wanted. And where you wanted to be. And he has two jobs here, right? So he's the coach of the team. He's also the president of the team. So through the summer, as you guys are also talking about contract stuff, and they offered you an extension that would have given you 4 years, $110 million. The reports are that you wanted something that was gonna— if they had moved some other pieces around and freed up more money, that you would have gotten a renegotiation that would have given you a shorter term of the contract but more money. Mm-hmm. Is all that accurate?
It's accurate, but it's not even, Rachael, it's not about money.
So tell me what it's about.
It's about like saying, "We need you. We want you here. We can't do this without you." And that was the disconnect all year long. Like you're saying one thing and you're saying it and you're saying it and you're saying it. I mean, I've learned enough times in life that, you know, saying something is completely different than acting upon it. Say, "Actions speak louder than words," whatever quote you want to use. And when it came to that point, it was like, I let y'all know what the deal was as soon as you traded for me. I told you the truth from day one, and I will continue to do it. And I did it. And it's kind of like, I don't know, a slap in the face. I don't know how to put it. But it made me think, like, maybe I'm not that important to your organization. Mm-hmm. That is how I took it.
How often through the summer did you communicate how you felt?
All the time. All the time. Anytime, Tiff, you call, you text me, to an extent, I was always answering.
Same answer?
Every time.
So this doesn't really get reported through the summer. And then boom, a week before training camp, here come all the reports. Jimmy Butler asked for a trade.
It wasn't a week before. You know, we had been talking all summer long. Everybody knew the truth throughout the organization because I'm gonna tell you the truth. Like it or not, it wasn't just then. So we can put that to rest. It was not just then.
I will say when all those stories came out and the headlines were Jimmy Butler asked for trade, social media went crazy. And you know what the NBA is like. Instagram, Twitter, it's like the school cafeteria. They kind of became Mean Girls where it was sort of, okay, Andrew Wiggins' brother says this and—
These memes are crazy though. Like they are just—
And you posted your, you know, keep that same energy.
Which I would like to see. He still gotta see me. He still gotta see me. If I suit up and I walk that, he's gonna be in the back and I'm gonna confront him about it. I'm not gonna be mean. I'm not gonna say anything. I'm just gonna be like, "Tell me how you feel." And the whole thing is people do things because they thought I was gonna be gone. Just be honest.
Mm-hmm.
That's what he was thinking.
So all this stuff comes out. And Tibbs obviously feels, and he said publicly, he said, "I think we can fix this. I don't think we have to trade him." You two have talked a few times. You've talked in person a few times.
Mm-hmm.
What is he communicating to you as all this is going on?
That everything is moving along. That's what he's saying. You know, "We know where your mind is at. We're doing everything that we can," yada, yada, yada. Everybody's really, really, really positive about the whole thing. But I know the truth. I know the truth. I know the whole truth. I know what I did. I know who I am to my core. Jimmy's a bad leader. That's— give it all here. I'll take it. I'll take it. But when you go around that locker room and you ask those guys, "Who you want to play with?" I'm telling you, nobody, nobody in that locker room is gonna say that he's a bad teammate, that he's a bad guy. I could be wrong. I could be wrong. But that's how I look at it. And that's why you get the quotes that is all over the internet from me today because I felt a type of way. I held it in. I haven't said anything to anybody. It's my first interview, right? Yep. I haven't said anything to anybody.
Mm-hmm.
And it comes out.
Yeah.
It comes out. So that's what it's all about. I just wanted to feel wanted.
