Jimmy Butler is an Absolute Monster (And Maybe the MVP)

Listen… we all know Steph Curry is the reigning MVP and is probably going to win it again this year, but, in the event let’s say he hurts his leg and starts missing games (oh lookie here that happened tonight) — someone may have the opportunity to leapfrog him if said individual is able to put up a comparable 82-game performance.

Other than Kawhi Leonard: we may have solidified another candidate last night in Chicago Bulls Shooting Guard Jimmy Butler, who went absolutely bezerk during Wednesday night’s 102-100 comeback overtime victory vs. the Indiana Pacers — recording 28 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals in 43 minutes of action.

While those numbers are certainly pedestrian for today’s NBA superstar, most of his statistics came during crunch-time at the end of both regulation and overtime:

Down 3 with 40 seconds left, Jimmy tied the game with this 3:

Down 2, he tied the game again while simultaneously putting Paul George in a blender and getting a grown man bucket

Single-handily built a 7-point lead in overtime with the entire Pacer D congregating on top of him

And then won the game with this insane alley-oop tip in that he makes look routine

Oh, and did I mention he had the game-saving “block” too?

Yes it’s just one regular season game in December that probably doesn’t mean anything long-term, however, the purpose of this post is to not only reinforce the hypothesis that Jimmy Butler has elevated his game from the NBA’s ‘Most Improved Player’ to ‘All-Star’ to ‘Superstar’ status — but also: is a legitimate MVP candidate who night-in-and-night-out is making game-winning plays, and needs to be taken seriously in the conversation as well.

P.S. After the game, Butler told reporters his game-winner was the result of a “A broken play … But when you play with great players like Pau, they somehow found a way. I just got the tip-in.”

Sounds like all Jimmy needed to get it in was just the tip.