Fansided

30 best personal rivalries in the NBA today

By John Buhler

OAKLAND, CA - JANUARY 18: Kevin Durant No. 35 of the Golden State Warriors and Russell Westbrook No. 0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder point in different directions after the ball went out of bounds at ORACLE Arena on January 18, 2017 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - JANUARY 18: Kevin Durant No. 35 of the Golden State Warriors and Russell Westbrook No. 0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder point in different directions after the ball went out of bounds at ORACLE Arena on January 18, 2017 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
12 of 30
Next
ATLANTA, GA – JANUARY 20: Jimmy Butler No. 21 and Dwyane Wade No. 3 of the Chicago Bulls look on from the bench during the game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena on January 20, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – JANUARY 20: Jimmy Butler No. 21 and Dwyane Wade No. 3 of the Chicago Bulls look on from the bench during the game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena on January 20, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

19. Jimmy Butler vs. Dwyane Wade

So what happens when you put two shooting guards that can’t shoot on a team with Rajon Rondo, who also can’t shoot, on the same basketball team with the Mayor of Ames, Iowa Fred Hoiberg, who just wants to shoot 3s? Not good things and that’s what happened to the 2016-17 Chicago Bulls.

Though it looked good on a video game, you could smell that bad team coming from a mile away. Then again, had Rondo not gotten hurt in the first-round of the NBA playoffs, Chicago would have absolutely won its first NBA Championship without Michael Jordan. So why didn’t it work? This is about Jimmy Butler versus Dwyane Wade.

See, this was Butler’s team. He took this team and ran with it from the also-ran legs of Joakim Noah. Since he wanted $2 million more than the Miami Heat were going to give him, Wade’s “I’m Coming Home” homecoming wasn’t as cool as LeBron James’. Why? Because he’s just Robin, man and not Batman, but that’s okay.

So to bring it all back home, Butler and Wade went together like lamb and tuna fish in the Windy City for one year. It was so stinky fish bad that both play in other Midwestern metropolises this season. Butler is yelling with Tom Thibodeau to tell Karl-Anthony Towns to grow up and play defense. Wade is being Alfred Pennyworth to Batman James again in the colder version of South Beach a.k.a. Cleveland.

Home/NBA