Jimmy Butler: Hoiberg is 'holding me accountable'

By foxsports
Published

Things didn't get off to a great start between new head coach Fred Hoiberg and the rest of the Bulls this season.

The transition has been a rocky one, and the problems have mainly been centered around Jimmy Butler, who has not only become the team's best player, but has asserted himself as its leader, as well. 

Butler called out Hoiberg for not coaching hard enough earlier in the season, but he seems to have gained some respect for his coach while the two are figuring out how to make things work.

Via ESPN's Nick Friedell:

It's going to take some time, and winning (of course) will make problems like these completely disappear. But the fact that Butler is taking this approach should be viewed as a positive sign that things are heading in the right direction.

"I still got respect for him," Butler said after scoring 28 points in a 102-100 overtime win over the Indiana Pacers. "I don't think it's a different light. Nothing I do is to disrespect anybody. I think he realizes I'm going to be here, I realize he's going to be here, so we got to deal with each other anyways. I think that he's holding me accountable for everything. He talked to me whenever I was low energy last game, and I fixed it. That's the type of guy he is. He has the utmost confidence in me because he continually put the ball in my hand when he didn't have to."

"I think we're both learning a lot about each other," Butler said. "He's probably learning how moody I am on a daily basis, to tell you the truth. And it's hard, but I think he lets me be who I am. He handles everything that I do very well. I'm not a big communicator, I'm not great at it, but he's always talking to me. He's always asking, 'How are you doing? What can we do?' He's always asking my opinion on a lot of things. Yeah, it helped a lot."