Jimmy Butler Made It Clear He Does Not Care About The Hall Of Fame And Says He Won't Even Attend The Ceremony If He Gets In

Nathaniel S. Butler. Getty Images.

On one hand, at least Jimmy Butler is consistent. Over the years we've heard him talk about how he doesn't give a shit about being an All Star, or making All NBA etc. I truly think he's being genuine when it comes to that stuff, and on some level, we can't love someone like Nikola Jokic for having a similar mentality where all he cares about is team success and a title and then kill Jimmy Butler for doing the same thing.

Having said that, this feels like maybe he's pushing it a little much. If you were to suggest that this feels more try-hard than authentic, I could see your point. This isn't the All Star team, this is the Hall Of Fame. I get not really caring about the regular season or any of the regular season accolades, but that is not what the Hall of Fame is. Acting like you're too cool for the HOF is taking things a little too far in my opinion, and really the whole question is strange. The Heat are in the middle of the Finals, with their season on the line, and we're talking about Jimmy Butler being in the HOF? That's kind of weird.

I know over the years there have been some guys who maybe should have made the Hall Of Very Good rather than the actual Hall Of Fame, but let's not suddenly pretend like getting the nod isn't a huge deal. There are only 178 players all time who have ever been inducted, and there are well over 4,700 players who have played in at least 1 game in the NBA. 

I mean, even Michael Jordan cared about making the HOF!

Now let's shift the question to whether or not you even think Jimmy Butler could one day get in. 

He certainly won't be a first ballot guy, but given his resume and the fact that I would guess he adds at least 1 or 2 more All NBAs to his resume, he certainly has a case. As of today, Basketball Reference has him at a 73.0% chance. That's the 17th highest percentage among active players, and he's right in the Jokic (73.9%), Love (73.4%) and Klay (70%) range. Obviously, if Jokic wins the title tonight, his odds will clearly increase, but the idea of Butler making the HOF isn't exactly crazy. I will say that graphic comparing him to someone like Reggie is a little misleading considering Reggie also is 4th all time in 3PM and has over 25,000 points. Butler currently ranks 206th all time in points scored if you were curious with 13,688. That's not a HOF death wish though as Dave Cowens, David Thompson, Vlade Divac, and Rudy Tomjanovich are all in the HOF with fewer points scored. 

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Given how much time has to pass after you retire to make the HOF, I don't think it will surprise everyone if Jimmy gets the nod and then ultimately shows up for this ceremony. I'm not sure anyone has ever willingly skipped it, so I can't imagine Butler would be the first. If that time comes I'm also sure this video clip will go viral again and people will get their jokes off, but really how do we even know the world will exist by the time Butler becomes eligible? You figure he's probably going to play for 3-4 more years, and then you have to wait 4 more years after that. Since he won't get in on the first ballot, the wait will be even longer. By that time, life on this planet might be cooked, so there won't even be a HOF ceremony to go to in the first place.