When he signed with the Chicago Bulls this past summer, Dwyane Wade made sure to clarify right from the jump that he wasn't there to steal anybody's thunder or create any kind of power struggle.
"This is Jimmy Butler's team," Wade said.
The results so far have borne that out, with Butler leading the 10-6 Bulls in minutes (35.2), points (25.8), and field-goal attempts (16.3) per game (though Wade does have a razor-slight edge in usage rate).
But for as remarkable as Butler has played this season, and as deferential as Wade has been, the 34-year-old future Hall-of-Famer feels his younger teammate still has much to learn about basketball artistry.
"I'm a chef, he's a cook," Wade told reporters Monday, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell. "I'm trying to make him a chef. He's on a fast track to doing that."
Cheekiness aside, Wade is legitimately wowed by the heights Butler has taken his game to this season. That's no shallow praise from a guy who's played with such luminaries as LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal.
"The league is on notice. Everybody is on notice that Jimmy Butler is a player," Wade told The Vertical's Michael Lee. "What everyone is seeing this year, I think everyone has been a little surprised, but we all knew he could play. You've seen the potential. Obviously, he's been an All-Star the last two years, he's averaged over 20 (points) a game, but what he's doing nightly now, on both ends of the floor, he's a complete player. And it's for real. It's not one week of doing it. He's been doing it all season, and I don't see him slowing down."
