Jackie Butler
![]() Butler in March 2006 with the New York Knicks. | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | McComb, Mississippi | March 10, 1985
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
Listed weight | 260 lb (118 kg) |
Career information | |
High school |
|
NBA draft | 2004 / Undrafted |
Playing career | 2004–2007 |
Position | Center / power forward |
Number | 45 |
Career history | |
2004–2005 | Great Lakes Storm |
2005–2006 | New York Knicks |
2006–2007 | San Antonio Spurs |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stats ![]() | |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Jackie Butler (born March 10, 1985) is an American retired professional basketball player.
Early life[]
Butler was born in McComb, Mississippi and attended McComb High School and originally committed to play at Mississippi State University but failed to qualify academically. He later enrolled at Laurinburg Institute, then transferred to prep school in Virginia Beach. Although he wanted to sign with the University of Tennessee in 2004, he decided to declare for the 2004 NBA draft, the first player that year to do so.[1]
Professional career[]
Butler went undrafted in the 2004 NBA draft and signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was then cut training camp.[2] Butler began the 2004–05 season with the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) where over 40 games with the Great Lakes Storm he averaged 18.1 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game.[3] He was named the CBA Rookie of the Year and selected to the All-CBA First Team.[4] On February 27, 2005, Butler signed with the New York Knicks for the rest of the 2004–05 NBA season,[3] scoring ten points over three games. He later was drafted in the 2005 AAPBL draft. However, the league folded soon thereafter.
When Larry Brown was hired as the New York Knicks' head coach, it was unclear what sort of role Butler would have. After the preseason, Brown publicly commented on how happy he was with Butler, and considered him his fourth rookie (after Channing Frye, Nate Robinson, and David Lee). After a rocky start, Butler was soon praised as being the Knicks' best center, with Eddy Curry and Jerome James having disappointing starts to their Knicks careers. For the 2005–06 NBA season Butler played in 55 games averaging 13.5 minutes, 5.3 points (54.4% field goal accuracy) and 3.3 rebounds per game. He earned US$641,748 with the Knicks.
In July 2006, Butler signed a three-year, US$7 million contract with the San Antonio Spurs.[5] He was considered a long-term project. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said on October 26, 2006, "most of his playing time in the initial part of the season is going to be in practice, learning what a work ethic is day in and day out and what it takes to play at this level."[6] Butler never played with the Spurs during the 2007 NBA Playoffs, but the Spurs won the 2007 NBA Finals.[2]
On July 12, 2007, the Spurs traded Butler and the rights to Luis Scola to the Houston Rockets for Vasileios Spanoulis, a 2009 second-round draft pick and cash.[7] He played on the Rockets' 2007 summer league team, but was waived in the 2007–08 NBA preseason (October 2007).
References[]
- ^ Monter, Chris (February 12, 2004). "Jackie Butler is first early entry into NBA Draft". CollegeBasketballNews.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2007. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
- ^ a b "Jackie Butler bio". NBA. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
- ^ a b "Teenage Center Signs With the Knicks". The New York Times. February 28, 2005. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
- ^ "Jackie Butler minor league basketball statistics". Stats Crew. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
- ^ Beck, Howard (July 20, 2006). "Looking at Bottom Line, Knicks Let Butler Go". The New York Times.
- ^ Ludden, Johnny (October 26, 2006). "Butler finding right track with Spurs". San Antonio Express-News. Archived from the original on March 12, 2008.
- ^ Ludden, Johnny (July 12, 2007). "Spurs find spot for Scola, Butler — Houston". San Antonio Express-News. Archived from the original on May 3, 2008.
External links[]
- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com
and Basketball-Reference.com
- NBA biography of Butler
- 1985 births
- Living people
- American men's basketball players
- Basketball players from Mississippi
- Centers (basketball)
- McDonald's High School All-Americans
- New York Knicks players
- Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
- People from McComb, Mississippi
- San Antonio Spurs players
- Undrafted National Basketball Association players