Motivational Story - Jimmy Butler (Miami Heat / NBA)
It starts at birth with Butler growing up without a father at his side and that his biological mother neglected him as well for most of his all-important growing up years.
At the age of 13, she then decided to stop being a parent and actually walked away from her son. With no place to call home and now all alone, Butler was on the hunt for two things: his own survival and finding a Purpose?
Despite all the hardships Jimmy faced, he never gave up hope. Traveling from foster home to foster home during his middle school and high school years, he would put all his rage and sadness into something beneficial and that was to play basketball. He connected with the sport very quickly as would practice for hours each day as merely a coping mechanism versus joining a gang or being seduced into crime?
When he looks back on those rough years. Butler never chose to be a victim of his circumstances. He says, “I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me. I hated that. There’s nothing to feel sorry about. It made me who I am. I’m grateful for the challenges I had to face.”
It was the summer before his senior year in high school was to begin that Butler would make friends with a freshman student. After spending some time at his friend’s home, it led to a permanent invite from the boy’s Mom to stay with their family. Butler happily accepted but had conditions to meet. The parents told Jimmy that he would have family duties to perform like their seven other children. He would have to improve his grades and act as a role model for the younger kids. He agreed and in the process, it changed his life forever!
During his last year of high school basketball, Butler had no major colleges calling. He was ranked as the 72nd best player according to a college scouting network but the ranking was just for players in the state of Texas? Without many options or positive feedback from scouts, he enrolled at Tyler Junior College in his home state of Texas. Before too long, he would lead the team in scoring which caught the eye of the Marquette University program in Wisconsin, a D-1 program Butler would sign on to play.
Butler had always been trying to find that one male in his life who believed in him. Not only did he find that in his Marquette coach (Buzz Williams) but he also felt that he found the one father figure he never had growing up? Williams was hard on him and did not give him a break. He saw the potential in Butler but as much as he had to work on Jimmy's game, he also helped him with his psyche. "We spent a lot of time trying to scrape out his hurt and pain,” said Williams. He taught Butler how to be more focused out on the court to perform better. How to Finish plays. To take it One Day at a Time.
Before departing Marquette for the pro ranks, Coach Williams gave Butler a journal for Christmas with a specific set of instructions:
1. Read more than you think you should.
2. Write down everything about everything.
3. Build trustful relationships.
4. Give God 10 percent, save 30 percent, live on 60 percent.
Signed: Buzz.
The notable factor of this story is that even though he had doubts from people, let alone his biological parents, Jimmy Butler never lost faith in himself. He practiced every day and moved forward even when the world felt like it was against him? Today, he is considered the Leader and Face of the Miami Heat franchise.
Butler summed up this story best, saying: “Whenever you have the right people in your corner that are always wanting you to do great, life gets easier. But also, your Dreams seem more attainable. Your Mind is an incredible tool in a sense, that, if you think you can do something, you can and that same mind that you’re using every single day can also help somebody else.”
Jim Loria
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