You have blessings, probably, for ten people, isn't that the truth? It is, but I want to be the guy that I am today. I feel like the obstacles and everything I had to go through to get to where I am that made me who I am. I won't change any of it. Like every good country song, there's life, there's love, and there's heartache. Jimmy Butler's story starts in Tiny Tom Ball. A town of about 10,000, just 40 miles outside of Houston. Tour Fals, Jimmy Butler NBA Cowboy. There it is. There it is. And the belt buckle. In the belt buckle. Texas forever? Texas, you know it. That's what I'm talking about. He's always loved the heat of competition, but the heat in Texas is another story. As a kid, Butler's passion changed from one sport to the next. To fully, first I started off playing football, but I stopped whenever I was like in sixth, seventh grade. So I was always a big football fan, you know, being from Texas football's baseball's big. I think basketball made me third. But then I wasn't a fan of the sun. I wasn't a fan of the heat. Plus I was tiny. I was like five, like five three. Everybody else started growing. I was like, I don't want to get crushed. I'm going to move inside to the AC, shoot at the orange rim. And that's when the love of basketball came wrong. At home life wasn't that simple. Mostly because at times there wasn't one. By 13, Jimmy was out on his own bouncing from couch to couch. Until the summer before his senior year in high school, when he met a freshman named Jordan Leslie. He doesn't open up too much, but I mean, you kind of get the gist of it. I mean, I was always like, man, you can stay the night. My mom won't care. And then I just be like, I just want more night. And it was kind of developed until we can in a month. For Jimmy, the transition was both cautious and quiet. He was a head from us. He stayed upstairs and we couldn't come downstairs and send Jordan down to get him food. So I guess he thought if he wasn't seen, no one would know he was there. I felt like if nobody knew I was there, they couldn't get tired of him. He never left. A house became a home. Friends became family. And with their love and support, Jimmy started to flourish on and off the court. It is hard because people say you just take a child you don't even know. And people think different things and say different things. And not to say that someone didn't come to me and say, oh, don't let him in. He's supposed to what he's done there. You've got to go with your gut. He brought more to us than ever we could break it in. Very good. Nice. Great. I did pretty good for a long time. That's them. That's family. That's what that is. And people say, oh, that's not blood. Well, I feel like family is who you love, who you always want to be around. Who's there for you with your holidays? Who's there for your first game? For your first start, things like that. And if you were to ask for those questions, they were always there. And I have nothing against anybody else. But I know whenever you ask me my family, you'll get those names. You'll get those people. As he also keeps in close contact with some of his blood relatives, especially his older brother and sister, meanwhile basketball was no longer just an outlet. After starring at Tom Ball-Hyd, Butler landed at Tyler Junior College, where then Marquette assistant coach Buzz Williams saw him while recruiting another player. He watched me play the very first thing he said to me was, Jimmy, you suck. I was like, oh, I don't even know you. Like, I don't, you know, like, I'm a kid. I was like, that's cool. But Jimmy's relentless game started to grow on Williams. And when he became the head coach at Marquette, he called Butler at 2am to offer him a scholarship. And Jimmy faced his next challenge. I thought that he would potentially end up being the difference maker, which is why he wanted to go home because I was extremely difficult in coaching him, because I thought that he could evolve into being a guy towards the end of the year that could help us. Like I was always like, I want to come home. I want to transfer. Like, because he was so hard on me. Like, I was so far away from home, you know, home sick. I'm still a kid. Eventually, the tough love would turn to motivation. Thriving by his senior season, Jimmy caught the eye of the bulls. With the 30th pick in the 2011 draft, the Chicago Bulls selected Jimmy Butler from Marquette University. Like, I instantly burst out into tears with my mom because I just felt like all the hard work that I've done and all the people that tell me that I wouldn't amount to anything that I couldn't be an NBA player, that I wouldn't get my degree. I wouldn't go to college. I wouldn't do this. I wouldn't do that. But more than anything, it was, I proved myself right. I could care less about proving them wrong. I wanted to prove to myself that if I said I could do it, I put my mind to it and I did it. He waited for his chances to play during his rookie season while working on his game and finding another family in the Bulls organization. The bottom that we have is one of the kind. Everybody wants to be around each other. You know, we see each other so much every day on the court that you think when we have a chance to be away from each other, you want to get away from each other. But that's not the case. Everybody has their families to attend to, but I feel like when we do have the chance, we all want to do something together, even if that's going to a movie or go get dinner or just hang out in somebody's room on the road. I feel like that's a big part of a team success because we know each other not only on the court but off the court. We know when somebody's down or somebody's really happy, I think that's a big part of being more than just a basketball player, but being a great person, great teammate and just knowing your guys as well. The organization is amazing. The players are amazing where you see some teams that have different players. And they kind of get in trouble and you know, you just don't see this from this team. In this coach, you just don't, you know, he doesn't put up with that. So that makes you feel good. And with injuries piling up this season, it opened up more opportunities for number 21. Like every other adversity in his life, Jimmy Butler is meeting the challenge and showing the NBA that his future is bright. You can't say enough about how he made the team function well and everything he did was move towards winning. It's also who he is. You know, he just wants to win. I feel like we always talk about it with my teammates and my coaches that the more reps that you get, that's the more confidence you gain. One, two, there's the wrong. Stop it, don't stop it. Jimmy Butler goes upstairs. You're chasing his gun and call. Even down in Texas, his family stays close by. They try to make trips up to see him every month during the season and the bond is unbreakable. I mean, I know he feels that he's blessed, but I mean, we're just as blessed. I mean, someone that's gone through so much and could still smile every day. I mean, he might be a jerk sometimes and stuff like that, but I mean, we all know he loves us and I mean, I feel blessed to have him in my life. It's been a winding road from Tom Ball, Texas to the windy city. There's been adversity in life lessons along the way. Jimmy Butler is ready for the next challenge with plenty of support. Considering your early childhood, how fortunate do you feel to have that, you know, happen in your life? It's a blessing, you know, to have people that are always in their corner no matter what. To always be on your side. If you need anything, they'll willing to give you. That's the last penny that they have to show their back. I think a lot of people would like to have that. And, you know, having people in your corner like that, that just let you know that you can be successful, that no matter what happens, you know, if you fail or if you succeed, you're always going to have your back. I was going to look at you as the same person that look here from Tom Ball who is ripping a running with the snappy nose.