I’m a fan of Jimmy Butler. I think he’s 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 doesn’t mean he’s without his flaws, especially when it comes to his choice of friends.
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 don’t 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 Wallen’s N-word controversy, Butler said:
“Wasn’t no controversy for me. I don’t even know what happened. I heard about it. I didn’t see the video. I didn’t look much into it and I’m not going to look much into it. I don’t think he’s a bad human being in any way, shape or form. He is a friend of mine, and I don’t know what happened. Obviously, it was a mistake, I think he learned from it, I think he knows better, and I don’t know what was said and in what context, but I think he’s an incredible human being who made a mistake.”
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 could’ve done is have a meaningful conversation with him on why he should never use that word and why it’s 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, “Wasn’t no controversy for me” is not good enough. Maybe I’m 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.
It’s possible that he did, but based on his response, I wouldn’t bet money on it.