Jimmy Butler takes himself out of Bulls game (Video)

The dysfunction from the Chicago Bulls continued on Friday night when Jimmy Butler checked himself out of the game.

To say it’s been a trying year for the Bulls would be an understatement. The second year of the Fred Hoiberg era has not produced the results fans or the team’s front office have expected. That frustration has poured over into the roster built by general manager Gar Forman with Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler critical of their teammates following a loss on Wednesday night.

Wade and Butler called out their teammates after blowing a game they should have won and that didn’t sit well with Rajon Rondo who continued the soap opera by calling out Wade and Butler. Rondo said the two veterans need to question their leadership rather than pointing the fingers elsewhere.

After the Bulls held a team meeting on Friday and Butler and Wade did not start the game for disciplinary reasons, the hope was this soap opera was behind them.

Well, that was a false hope because the dysfunction shifted from the locker room and social media to the court. Butler walked right off the court without a player ready to come in for him. It appears Butler is doing what he wants and has no respect for his coach. It’s one thing to be upset with a coach or teammate, but to be this disrespectful is unwarranted.

I can’t imagine this is going to end well for Hoiberg. It’s going to be a lot easier to part ways with a head coach with little success on the NBA level than it will be to part with a top-10 player like Butler under a hefty contract.

Next: 20 Richest NBA Players of All-Time

Make no mistake, it’s a poor look for Butler who isn’t going to endear himself to the fans with this awfully petty and selfish move.