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Former NBA point guard Michael Carter-Williams has seen a lot after playing for six different teams over his nine-year career, but nothing compared to the year he spent playing alongside Jimmy Butler with the Chicago Bulls.
While speaking with Milwaukee Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo on the Thanalysis Show, Carter-Williams described the 2016-17 campaign in Chicago as “the craziest season” he’s ever experienced and detailed a confrontation between Butler and then-head coach Fred Hoiberg.
“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,'” Carter-Williams explained. “And he didn’t even get to three and Coach Hoiberg was like, ‘Well, then f–k you, Jimmy.'”
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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
The Bulls went 41-41 in the 2016-17 season and fell to the Boston Celtics in six games in the first round of the playoffs. Unsurprisingly, Butler was traded in June 2017 to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Hoiberg was fired after the team started the 2018-19 season with a 5-19 record and returned to college basketball to be the head coach at Nebraska.
Butler, who is now a member of the Miami Heat, is known for his fiery personality. There has been speculation that he could be shipped away from Miami this offseason, but it remains to be seen if a team will be able to convince the Heat to let him go.
