Despite the two months of drama swarming over the Minnesota Timberwolves, forward Jimmy Butler has left his stamp on the roster he left behind after being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. Rookie Josh Okogie dispelled any rumors of the four-time All-Star being a toxic presence in the locker room.
“I know a lot of people call him a bad teammate or whatever, but I never once thought he was a bad teammate,” Okogie told Reid Forgrave of CBS Sports. “A lot of people don't hear what he says to everybody behind the lines. They just look at him shouting, saying things.”
Okogie listed several examples of Butler encouraging him, despite having only known each other for a matter of weeks, as Butler spent the entire summer away from Minnesota.
“But he'd tell me, ‘Shoot the ball! I don't care if you miss a million shots. You just need to shoot the ball. That's who you are,” Okogie remembered. “He told me to be confident in myself and just play my game and don't worry about whatever the coaches say, don't worry about what's going on, don't worry about how many shots you miss. Just keep shooting. On Sundays he'll take me to church. That's the things people don't see. He'll invite me to his house, and we'll watch film, and he'll teach me a lot of the defensive principles and a lot of the secrets that he likes to use on defense.”
Jimmy Butler admitted to having strong relationships with point guard Jeff Teague, and former teammates Taj Gibson and Derrick Rose, along with some of the young players on the roster. It seems Okogie remembers him fondly for his willingness to teach and encourage him, something the duo of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid have already gotten a taste of during their first game together.
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