Jimmy Butler had made this move more times than he can count — rising up to catch a pass and falling down as he lays the ball in the basket.
Fans had grown accustomed to seeing him execute this play over and over again, yielding nothing but extra points for his team. Only this time, there was no turnaround jumper to miraculously get the ball through the rim.
No whistle blown for an and-one with a trip to the line.
No thumbs up signal before springing back up to play.
This time was different. This time, one of the Warriors’ biggest fears became reality.
The Warriors announced Butler tore his ACL after the Jan. 19 game against his former squad, the Miami Heat. While there has been no report yet of Butler undergoing surgery to repair it, he is staring down a slow and tedious comeback.
In order to understand his road back to basketball, it’s important to know what the journey will entail and how everything he has been through has prepared him for what’s to come.
A Deep Dive Into the Injury
Dr. Nirav Pandya, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine in the Bay, provided insight to The Lead regarding Butler’s injury. Despite Butler previously suffering a torn meniscus and sprained MCL in that same leg years ago, Dr. Pandya doesn’t think those directly caused the tear. He does acknowledge that they may have increased his chance of getting hurt.
“It’s hard to make that direct one-to-one correlation,” he said. “But in general, if you’ve had prior structural injury to your knee, that knee is going to be more at risk for any type of injury. The structures that were injured before may not provide the same stability; the knee may be already weakened; maybe there was already some inflammation in the ACL.”
Although everyone’s healing process is different, Butler’s could be slightly more laborious due to already having some wear and tear.
“The more prior injury you’ve had, the harder it’s going to be. Your knee is going to be stiffer; maybe you won’t gain your strength back as quickly,” Dr. Pandya said.
There are specific time marks that must be met, like waiting nine months for the ligament to be able to withstand stress. But the ultimate test of his NBA readiness could be determined by how much discomfort he can handle.
“If an athlete has very high pain tolerance and is really dedicated, what may be pain for one athlete may not be pain for another athlete,” he explained. “That’s the part that’s so hard to predict — each individual’s mental makeup and how they push themselves. If you have an athlete who’s willing to push himself and wants to get back, they can overcome some of those issues (age, prior injuries).”
Nothing New for Jimmy
Butler’s mental makeup is one of the toughest there is. The adversity he’s overcome has been the story of his life.
Butler was dealt a rough hand at an early age. His father left when he was little, and his mother kicked him out because she didn’t like how he looked. At 13 years old, he had no money and no place to live.
The Tomball native from Texas notoriously avoids going in-depth about his childhood years. He has repeatedly stated that he doesn’t want his upbringing to be a sob story for pity.
“There’s nothing to feel sorry about. I love what happened to me,” he said in an ESPN interview just before he got drafted to the Bulls. “It made me who I am. I’m grateful for the challenges.”
Butler rotated around different friends’ houses looking for a place to stay while pursuing basketball as a teenager. Luckily, he made a friend at a high school basketball camp, Jordan Leslie, whose family took him in.
Butler may grumble hearing others recount his story, but what he experienced is integral in shaping who he is today. His living situation wasn’t the only chapter of his life that was made difficult, though. College presented a new set of problems.
College Learning Curves
Butler attracted little attention from colleges when deciding where to play basketball. He received zero Division I offers out of high school and went unranked by ESPN. On top of that, he was ranked 1,253rd (by 247 Sports) in his recruiting high school class.
With a limited pool of schools to choose from, he took the unconventional route by enrolling at Tyler Junior College.
He led his team in scoring during his first year, drawing eyes from more college coaches in other states. His path led him to Marquette University, where he transferred to after his freshman year.
At Marquette, he found himself in a familiar place with the odds against him. Butler was relegated to the bench after starting at JUCO (junior college) the previous year. Averaging just 5.6 points a game, his welcome to Marquette was initially difficult.
Coach Buzz Williams was molding Butler to become a complete, versatile player. Butler worked tirelessly to improve not only his offensive repertoire, but also his defense, ball-handling, and rebounding.
“I feel like I’ve never been the best player,” Butler said. “I’ve never been highly recruited, so I’ve always had all the chips stacked up against me, and I’ve always found a way to make things happen.”
Coach Williams said he pushed him because he believed in him. At times, he saw more in Butler than Butler saw in himself.
“I’ve never been harder on a player than I’ve been on Jimmy,” Williams confessed. “I was ruthless on him because he didn’t know how good he could be. He’d been told his life that he wasn’t good enough.”
Defying the Odds to Earn his Place in the NBA
Butler achieved success starting in his junior and senior years at Marquette, taking the Golden Eagles to the Sweet 16 in 2011. Still, that didn’t stop doubts from bubbling about whether or not he was ready for the big leagues.
He proved everyone wrong, hearing his name called as the 30th pick in the 2011 NBA draft. Butler used the trials he faced as proof that he can rise above any hurdles thrown his way.
“My whole life, people have doubted me. My mom did. People told me in high school I’m too short and not fast enough to play basketball,” Butler said. “They didn’t know my story. Because if they did, they’d know that anything is possible… I know I can overcome anything if I just take everything one day at a time.”
He will need to rely on his one-day-at-a-time mentality again as he stares down an arduous year of rehab.
Every challenge that Butler has faced, he has conquered: homelessness, being broke, fighting for minutes in college, and gruesome injuries in the NBA. His ACL recovery pales in comparison to what he’s already triumphed over.
Butler’s Basketball Future
One of the biggest questions following the 36-year-old’s ACL tear is whether or not we have officially seen the last of him on an NBA floor. According to Dr. Pandya, not so soon.
“You see NBA players get ACL tears all the time. Techniques have advanced to the point where you can get athletes who are in their mid to late 30s and get them back,” he affirmed. “The key thing is what role does he play in the future, and that’s the unpredictable part.”
Dr. Pandya doesn’t doubt Butler’s ability to establish a role for himself upon return, given his high IQ and multifaceted game.
“What makes athletes so great is they understand the limitations of their bodies and how they can be impactful within the context of the team. That’s one thing everyone says about Jimmy Butler: he understands the game so well and puts his team and teammates in position to win.”
The good news for Butler is that his ability to be effective isn’t reliant on explosiveness or athleticism. He can defend, make plays, and score in a myriad of ways.
“His game translates well to having this injury and getting back on the court, being someone who can contribute. I think his defensive ability and ability to pass the ball and make the right decisions, that’s still gonna be there.”
He Can Make History with Return Post ACL
For those concerned about Butler still not yet receiving surgery to repair his ACL, Dr. Pandya says it’s normal for swelling and pain to take time to subside. Waiting for discomfort to die down is crucial following a tear. Even if it prolongs the surgery date.
“Typically, for athletes who have ACL injuries, we like to wait a couple weeks before undergoing surgery to get swelling to go down, to get mobility back, and strength back. You want the knee to feel relatively normal because you want to optimize how you do afterwards. If you’re swollen and weak, you’re going to get even stiffer and risk infection afterwards. A week or two on the front end can really make a difference in terms of preventing complications down the road.”
Dr. Pandya cautions those who compare his timeline to Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes’, who was operated on the day after his injury in December. His situation and Butler’s aren’t quite the same.
“Based on the reports, it wasn’t necessarily that he (Patrick) got it early because of his ACL; it was because he had another ligament injury — his LCL. With that injury, you want to get it fixed as soon as possible because it becomes a lot harder as you get further away from the injury.”
When Does Dr. Pandya Think Butler Will Return?
So, when can fans expect to see Butler make his return? Given his age and the extensive miles on his body, Dr. Pandya thinks it could take a full year.
“For a player with his age and injury history, you may potentially think closer to that 11-12 month mark. But a lot of this has to do with how his knee responds. Some of the benefits for him are that he’s not a type of player that explodes to the basket, plays vertically. He’s a much more ground-based player, which will help him.”
The six-time All-Star will attempt to be the first NBA player to return from an ACL injury at his age, likely 37 years old. Former basketball player Chris Andersen tore his ACL at 38, but never played in an NBA game after that.
Butler would make history if he were to return to an NBA court, let alone resemble anything close to what he was pre-injury. But if there’s anyone who’s built for it, it’s him.
He’s already beaten the odds several times before. He will do it again.
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