Iām a fan of Jimmy Butler. I think heās an awesome personality and an even better NBA player. Hell, I wrote a whole story about how incredible he was against the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2023 Playoffs.
But that doesnāt mean heās without his flaws, especially when it comes to his choice of friends.
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In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the six-time all-star was open about a lot of things including his taste in music, his difficult upbringing, soccer, and his friendship with country music star Morgan Wallen.
If you donāt recall, he was seen on video hurling the N-word and other profanities during a drunken night near his home. Despite the controversy and deserved criticism, Wallen still went on to have one of the most popular albums of 2021 and continues to be a star in the music industry.
When asked about his reaction to Wallenās N-word controversy, Butler said:
āWasnāt no controversy for me. I donāt even know what happened. I heard about it. I didnāt see the video. I didnāt look much into it and Iām not going to look much into it. I donāt think heās a bad human being in any way, shape or form. He is a friend of mine, and I donāt know what happened. Obviously, it was a mistake, I think he learned from it, I think he knows better, and I donāt know what was said and in what context, but I think heās an incredible human being who made a mistake.ā
Look, Butler can be friends with the devil himself for all I care, but his dismissive attitude toward the situation bothers me.
If Wallen is your friend and you wanted to continue being his friend after the controversy, then the least you couldāve done is have a meaningful conversation with him on why he should never use that word and why itās so degrading towards Black people, especially when a white man uses it.
Maybe Butler is not educated enough to have a conversation with Wallen like that, but simply saying, āWasnāt no controversy for meā is not good enough. Maybe Iām expecting too much out of a person who is paid to put a ball in a hoop, but I know if that was my friend, best believe we are going to have a long conversation about it.
Itās possible that he did, but based on his response, I wouldnāt bet money on it.
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