You can call Jimmy Butler a lot of things. One that Butler cannot and will not be labeled with, is that he’s soft.
One of the most intense players on both ends of the floor, Butler has earned a reputation for playing with physicality and not backing up from any matchup he’s faced with. He’s also a hard-nosed player who is known for being abrasive. That was the side that his former Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg dealt with from 2015-18 before being replaced by Jim Boylen.
Butler was particularly tough on Hoiberg during the 2016-17 season, Hoiberg’s second season on the job.
Jimmy Butler called coach Fred Hoiberg “soft” during Chicago Bulls tenure
That’s when, according to former Bulls guard Michael Carter-Williams, Butler called his head coach “soft.”
“The craziest season I’ve ever been a part of was Chicago. I love Jimmy, Jimmy’s a great dude, but this is crazy bro. Our locker room was bad bro. It was right in the beginning of the year too. Everybody was pissed off. Like, upset, Jimmy wasn’t getting along with Coach Hoiberg, so we had a team meeting early.
But last game, the refs were terrible. Like Jimmy got a tech, like somebody else got a tech, I think even Taj Gibson got a tech. Jimmy was upset, right? That Coach Hoiberg ain’t get a tech. Coach Hoiberg is like, ‘Jimmy this starts with me and you, what’s going on?’ And then Jimmy goes, well, one, I think you’re soft. Two, I don’t like you. And he didn’t even get to three and Coach Hoiberg was like, well then, f— you Jimmy. And Jimmy’s like, oh, it’s f— me now, you wanted to know what I felt!”
Michael Carter-Williams recalling when Jimmy Butler called Fred Hoiberg soft
A Jimmy Butler story you just have to hear…. #Bulls @mcarterwilliams joins @Thanasis_ante43 on the latest episode of Thanalysis. #NBA
Full interview: https://t.co/za7LAtcxCp pic.twitter.com/fDT6F4ZaV5
— Thanalysis Show (@ThanalysisShow) May 30, 2024
The Bulls were coming off a disappointing 42-40 season, missing the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons, so naturally, tensions were high throughout the year.
Carter-Williams, a former Rookie of the Year winner, has played nine NBA seasons, spanning six different teams. In other words, he’s seen a lot of different situations, yet none top what he saw with the Bulls and Jimmy Butler in 2016. We can see why, that story is hard to top.
For the record, the Bulls went 41-41 that season, reaching the NBA Playoffs as the eight seed in the East. This was the only season that Hoiberg led the Bulls to a playoff run, but it ended after six games, losing to the Boston Celtics. Hoiberg coached 106 more games in Chicago before being let go following a 5-19 start in 2018.
