One of the underappreciated sequences in “White Men Can’t Jump” was this one.
Not the trashy remake released by Hulu last month, but the original 1992 film starring Woody Harrelson as “Billy Ho” and Wesley Snipes as Sidney Deane.
Following another on-court hustle, Harrelson puts on a Jimi Hendrix tape for the car journey home, resulting in a back-and-forth between the two as Snipes tries to make a point.
“That’s the problem… you all listen,” Snipes stated as the Jimi Hendrix song began to play. “You’re meant to hear it. There’s a distinction between hearing and listening…you can’t hear Jimi…you listen.”
It is still true after more than 30 years.
Just another Jimmy.
Whatever happens in the NBA Finals, whether it’s Miami pulling off the impossible and defeating Goliath or the Nuggets doing what they’re supposed to do and hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy, it’s become painfully clear to Bulls fans and the organisation what a colossal mistake trading Jimmy Butler was back in 2017.
It’s becoming not just one of the worst NBA moves in the previous decade, but maybe the worst in Bulls history.
And the best part?
Butler had no desire to go.
While the Gar/Pax administration tried its best to manage the narrative of why moving Butler to Minnesota for a deal that ended up being Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, and Kris Dunn was important, it’s clearly clear what transpired.
In the end, they didn’t hear Jimmy.
They paid attention to the all-knowing guard, but they didn’t hear him.
That means not wanting to give him the top salary or anything close to it. That means not wanting to give up some control because of Butler’s aggressive recruiting plans for the roster. Worryingly, the past government never really understood what they had in their own building.
A player they recruited, saw develop, but didn’t recognise as an excellent on-court apex predator.
Such errors not only leave an organisation hobbling, but also cripple it.
Six seasons later, the Bulls have yet to recover. Markkanen and Dunn are gone, and LaVine has proved to be Robin rather than Batman on a squad that has only won one postseason game since Butler’s departure.
Meanwhile, Butler has lead three organisations to the playoffs, the Heat to the NBA Finals twice, and established himself as one of the finest playoff performances in recent memory.
And he did it while warning each club that didn’t recognise his potential.
He was very vocal about the 76ers investing max money in low-effort players like Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons rather than building around himself and good friend Joel Embiid.
Without Butler, all three franchises have suffered.
Look, Butler isn’t always willing to play nice when it comes to honesty. In fact, he doesn’t care about the regular season at all.
At this juncture in his career, the playoffs means everything to Butler. Adversity is genuinely tested at that point. His comfort zone is overcoming hardship.
While the Bulls may be proud that they were three minutes away from eliminating Butler and Miami in the April 14 play-in game, those final three minutes, and every round of the playoffs since, have truly demonstrated how far the Bulls are from a team like Miami and a player like Butler.
They are not alone.
Minnesota, Philadelphia… all made identical errors. They paid attention to Jimmy but never heard him.
They can hear him now.
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