"I don't care" - Jimmy Butler shares explicit thoughts when asked about 2023 FIBA World Cup
It looks like NBA superstar Jimmy Butler doesn't pay a lot of attention to what is happening in the FIBA World Cup.
The Miami Heat superstar was in New York to watch the U.S. Open and support Coco Gauff, who moved to the quarterfinals of the final major tournament of the season.
During his presence in NYC, Jimmy Butler caught the attention of a basketball journalist from Serbia, named Sasa Ozmo, who asked the superstar forward about the FIBA World Cup.
Butler had a surprising response to the question, making it clear that he doesn't watch the tournament:
“I’m not making any statements here. I don’t care about the World Cup."
Jimmy Butler was one of the many NBA superstars who skipped the FIBA World Cup this summer. It looks like for the majority of the league's megastars, the only tournament that matters is the Olympic Games, so we expect some of them to travel to Paris next year.
For his part, Jimmy Butler has played for Team USA in only one major FIBA tournament, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where the Americans claimed the gold medal. Based on his comments, though, it doesn't look like he will play again.
Coco Gauff praises Jimmy Butler's mentality
Jimmy Butler is a player who never backs down from any challenge and always finds a way to get things done and win.
Even though he has never won an NBA championship, he gets high praise from his colleagues about his mentality and the way he approaches games. Similarly, Coco Gauff referred to Butler's mentality as the best way to approach her matches in ATP tournaments. Gauff said, via the official website of the U.S. Open:
"He has that mentality really of, you know, no matter what the odds are against him, he's gonna give it his all. I think he's just one of those athletes [where] the mentality makes his game even better. You have people that are talented and don't have the mentality.
"I think he has the talent and the mentality. It's just taking him even further. ... Realistically, between two weeks or between Wimbledon and the next tournament I played, nothing could have really changed that much. It was really just the mental thing. I think that's what I learned from watching Jimmy compete over the years."
Over his 12-year NBA career, Jimmy Butler is a six-time All-Star and won the 2023 Eastern Conference finals MVP. He is the main reason why the Heat have played in the NBA Finals twice over the last four years (2020, 2023).
However, Miami lost both series to the LA Lakers and Denver Nuggets, respectively, and the All-Star forward missed the opportunity to earn his first NBA title.
Butler is now preparing for the upcoming season and is hopeful that the Heat will land Damian Lillard soon, as they aim to return to the finals next year.
As for Team USA, it will play Italy in the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals, with the game taking place in Manila, Philippines, on Tuesday.