Bulls swingman Jimmy Butler has tried in vain to make the story about his relationship with Derrick Rose go away.
After several reports surfaced about tension between the two after the Bulls’ playoff exit in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Butler has tried time and again to put out the fire.
Butler talked about their relationship in an interview with Rolling Stone, then to ESPN’s First Take and to the assembled media when he signed his first contract last month. On Thursday, the matter came up again on ESPN Radio’s “The Waddle & Silvy Show.”
Butler again downplayed stories of tension with Rose before being asked if the two can have chemistry together.
“I think we can,” he said. “I think we will. And I think we better, because the way I look at it, I don’t think either one of us is going anywhere anytime soon.”
Butler once again said the matter only became a talking point when the Bulls lost to the Cavaliers in the semis.
“I think we’re fine,” he said. “I mean, it’s the offseason, so guys go their separate ways, but so far, so good. That’s what I have on that. Like I said earlier, it’s just stuff that comes up whenever we don’t win. If we win, nobody’s talking about it, everybody’s celebrating. Since we lost the way that we did, you gotta blame it on something.”
