No forecast of Jimmy Butler’s surging cheese levels, no matter how thorough, could have anticipated the day he compared himself to a Banksy artwork. It’s too on the nose, but that’s exactly what the Heat forward told Haute Living in last week’s profile. (Also revealed: Butler has taken on a bit of a British accent. “The honeys love it!”)
Here’s the Banksy reference with full context, in all its cheddary splendor:
“I would say that that’s the best part of my life: I’m figuring more and more out about myself every single day.”
He looks at it this way: “Some people don’t really get the picture, but you give it to them anyway. You may not understand why I do what I do or who I am, but that’s what you’re going to get, so you’ve got to deal with it. It’s like a piece of art—and I’m not saying I’m a piece of art. What I’m saying is that some people don’t understand a Picasso, but you have to take the damn Picasso anyway because it’s a Picasso. I think I’m that way. You may not understand me, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to change. A Picasso is going to stay a Picasso. But seriously, I’m not a Picasso—I’m more like a Banksy!”
What is Jimmy Butts but a subversive, darkly humorous work of street art? He’s merely trying to show you that we live in a society.
Butler has been involved in other cheesy news as of late. ESPN recently revealed that Andrew Wiggins’s contract extension was “at the root of Jimmy Butler’s unhappiness in Minnesota,” which eventually led to the infamous practice that ended Butler’s run with the Timberwolves. (In fairness, that’s probably the right response to watching your employer pay Wiggins $147 million.)
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said Tuesday that he already expects their new star and Justise Winslow to fight over the toughest defensive assignments. “And then, when they argue about it, in a good way, that’s when I’ll step in,” Spoelstra told the Sun Sentinel. Butler has made it pretty clear what arguing in a bad way looks like, so Coach should have an easy time.
“The goal is not to have Jimmy Butler and Justise Winslow involved in an all-out brawl on the bench with decisive seconds left in games. That, ultimately, would be counterproductive,” wrote the Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman, seeing the future all too clearly.
Finally, at a Dwyane Wade roast over the weekend, Butler reportedly referred to Udonis Haslem’s beard as a “pack of flies,” which is frankly pretty good. He did seem like the one force strong enough to drive Haslem out of town.
H/t to Andrew