The Jimmy Butler saga has quickly become the most entertaining storyline of the NBA preseason and that was before Mark Wahlberg was unexpectedly thrown into the mix. According to Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune, an anonymous Chicago media source blames Wahlberg for Butler's transition into an "egomaniac," adding that Butler began seeing himself as a star once he started hanging around with Wahlberg.
"There was insight sought from a Chicago media person who had watched Butler from the start of his career. The suggestion was that Jimmy came into the league driven by his underdog status, and that changed a few years later when he started hanging out with Wahlberg and seeing himself as a star."
"The feeling in Chicago was that Butler’s game stopped growing three, four years ago, as his head grew ever larger."
Butler and Wahlberg's friendship reportedly started in 2013 when Marky Mark was filming Transformers in Chicago, and the duo have grown close over the years. Reusse notes that Butler's ego became such a distraction around the time of their friendship that the Bulls ultimately decided to trade him to Minnesota after the 2017 season.
The 29-year old All-Star returned to practice with the Timberwolves yesterday and reportedly "left teammates and coaches largely speechless" as he dominated the gym in every way. After the eventful training session, in which Butler reportedly teamed with bench players to embarrass Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, the disgruntled guard sat down with ESPN's Rachel Nichols to discuss what went down in the gym, as well as the trade rumors.
Check out that footage in the video embedded below.