Jimmy Butler is becoming an interesting leader

I must admit that I did not care for Miami’s Jimmy Butler because he struck me as something of a clown who was not going to achieve "anything" in basketball. But I am beginning to reconsider that view for several reasons. I am beginning to see that his humorous style is simply part of his personality. I know he sometimes trains at the beach, which is more difficult because training on sand is more demanding. In my experience, on the first day that I walked a long way on the dry sand of Samil, I found it difficult, but on the second day I was not so tired. I could run for longer. I could walk and run for longer. In the video that I watched on YouTube he plays the fool a little, but it must be his way of relaxing. Some people may think that he is only having fun.

In the video

I swear my trainer just makes stuff up | How to train like Jimmy Butler Ep 1.

You can also see his mischievous personality. Here his trainer uses resistance bands. This is a modern way of exercising that a personal trainer of Kobe Bryant dismissed. Both thought: why embrace the latest trend when you can use what has been useful for past champions such as Michael Jordan? Yet these methods seem to be working for Butler, who has eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks led by Antetokounmpo in the 2020 Orlando Bubble. New times, new methods.

In the following video, you can see the personal trainer who worked with Kobe and Michael. The best part is when he explains how he first made contact with Jordan to train him, after all the other players on the team had dismissed him.

How Kobe Bryant's Trainer Helped Him Become a Legend | The Assist | GQ Sports

Stephen Curry has a more modern personal performance and skills coach. They juggle with one or two tennis balls and a basketball. Personally, I also juggle with three balls. I sometimes replace one of the tennis balls with another kind of ball, such as a red plastic ball or a football, and on occasion I also use a fitness ball, which I bounce. I think that juggling helps me to block more of my opponents’ shots, because it is easier for me to keep track of one ball than three during a game. With my personal trainer, Miguel Arias, I also did exercises that involved catching several balls while reacting to colours, numbers or mental arithmetic. The sad thing is that we could not use the tennis balls and a basketball at the same time. 

The following is a video well worth watching. I like this coach.

Every Exercise Steph Curry’s Trainer Makes Him Do | The Assist | GQ Sports

Returning to the original topic, Jimmy Butler did something else that I liked during a game. I am not saying that I like revenge, but what happened was that Chris Paul was behaving badly towards a Miami rookie in the 2020 Orlando bubble, during a game between Miami and the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he threw a ball at the rookie with malicious intent. On the next play, Butler, who is more heavily built than the rookie, pushed Chris Paul during a drive to the basket, as if to say to the veteran point guard, “Don’t go too far with my teammate.” That seems like the sign of a cohesive team and a leader willing to stand up for his teammates. I like Chris Paul as a point guard, but it seems to me that he is a bit of a pain in the neck sometimes. But he managed to take his team to a seventh game against the Houston Rockets in the bubble, and he deserves all the credit. Chris was finally healthy in the 2020 NBA playoffs!

More on basketball training

For more on repetition and coordination in basketball, read Nuts Like Brains: Basketball, Repetition and Nervous System Training, which connects with the juggling and ball exercises described here.

For a broader look at physical preparation, see Complete Conditioning for Basketball: Book Review, which complements the training methods discussed in this article.

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