There have been rumblings this offseason that Dwyane Wade is not well-liked by his Chicago Bulls teammates, and one report claimed he also had a rocky relationship with Jimmy Butler before Butler was traded to Minnesota. Butler insists that is complete nonsense.
When asked about the Fox Sports report claiming he and Wade did not get along, Butler joked about how close the two are.
“The only beef he and I could possibly have is who is a better dresser right now,” he said, via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “For that [report] to be floating out there is crazy. As many dinners as me and him have had out here [in California], the trips we’ve taken this summer, I don’t think people that argue would be around each other as much as I like being around D-Wade.
Butler took it a step further, noting that he loves Wade “like a brother” and continues to keep in touch with him even though they are no longer teammates.
“I just continue to pick his brain and try and get to the level that he is on the basketball court — what he’s done, the way that he’s won,” Butler added. “I love that guy like a brother, and he’s done so much for me. Let people talk, but no one knows what they are talking about unless it’s coming from me or D-Wade.”
We’re more likely to believe Wade’s current Bulls teammates don’t like him than we are to believe Wade and Butler have some sort of beef. If anything, there were times when it seemed like the locker room in Chicago was divided last season with Wade and Butler on one side and everyone else on the other. That became pretty obvious when Rajon Rondo ripped his veteran teammates in a post on social media.
With Wade scheduled to make $23.8 million next season and the Bulls nowhere near championship contention, a buyout could be on the horizon.
