Jackie Butler (born March 10, 1985) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He attended

McComb High School McComb High School is a public school in McComb, Mississippi, United States, serving 740 students in grades 912, as of 2017. Most of its students are African American. During segregation, black students attended Burlund High School, now Higgins Mi ...

McComb, Mississippi McComb is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. The city is approximately south of Jackson. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 12,790. It is the principal city of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statis ...

, and transferred to Coastal Christian Academy in

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

for his final high school season. Butler skipped college and declared for the 2004 NBA draft, but was not selected. He joined the Great Lakes Storm of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA), and won Rookie of the Year whilst also being named to the All-CBA First Team. Butler signed with the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

in February 2005. In July 2006, he signed with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, whom he won the

2007 NBA Finals The 2007 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2006–07 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs d ...

with.

Early life

Butler was born in

and attended McComb High School and originally committed to play at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

but failed to qualify academically. He enrolled at Laurinburg Institute in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

for academic purposes but he departed after a reported altercation with a teammate. He then transferred to Coastal Christian Academy prep school in

. Although he wanted to sign with the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

in 2004, he decided to declare for the

2004 NBA draft The 2004 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2004, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and was broadcast live on ESPN at 7:00 pm ( EDT). In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur colle ...

, the first player that year to do so.

Professional career

Great Lakers Storm (2004–2005)

Butler went undrafted in the

and signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

. He was then cut training camp. Butler began the 2004–05 season with the

(CBA) where over 40 games with the Great Lakes Storm he averaged 18.1 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. He was named the CBA Rookie of the Year and selected to the All-CBA First Team.

New York Knicks (2005–2006)

On February 27, 2005, Butler signed with the

for the rest of the

2004–05 NBA season The 2004–05 NBA season was the 59th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It began on November 2, 2004, and ended on June 23, 2005. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs defeating the defending champion Detroit Pistons, 4� ...

, 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

' 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 Channing Thomas Frye (born May 17, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. A power forward- center, he played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats. He was selected eighth overall by the New York Knicks in the 2005 NBA ...

Nate Robinson Nathaniel Cornelius Robinson (born May 31, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Seattle, Robinson played college basketball for the University of Washington in Seattle and was the 21st pick in the 2005 NBA draft. ...

, and David Lee). After a rocky start, Butler was soon praised as being the Knicks' best center, with

Eddy Curry Eddy Anthony Curry Jr. (born December 5, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Coming directly out of Thornwood High School in South Holland, Illinois, Curry was selected fourth overall in the 2001 NBA draft by the Chicag ...

and

Jerome James Jerome Keith James (born November 17, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Originally from Tampa, Florida, James played college basketball for the Florida A&M Rattlers for three seasons and was the national leader in blo ...

having disappointing starts to their Knicks careers. For the

2005–06 NBA season The 2005–06 NBA season was the 60th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, four games to two, to win their first NBA championship. This marked that it was the final ...

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.

San Antonio Spurs (2006–2007)

In July 2006, Butler signed a three-year, US$7 million contract with the

. He was considered a long-term project. Spurs coach

Gregg Popovich Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball executive and former coach who is the president for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the List of current NBA head co ...

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." Butler never played with the Spurs during the 2007 NBA Playoffs, but the Spurs won the

. On July 12, 2007, the Spurs traded Butler and the rights to

Luis Scola Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa (born 30 April 1980) is an Argentine former basketball player and the chief executive officer for the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) team Pallacanestro Varese. A three-time All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague selecti ...

to the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

for Vasileios Spanoulis, a 2009 second-round draft pick and cash. He played on the Rockets' 2007 summer league team, but was waived in the 2007–08 NBA preseason (October 2007).

Career statistics

NBA

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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, 55 , , 0 , , 13.5 , , .544 , , — , , .753 , , 3.3 , , .5 , , .3 , , .6 , , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, 11 , , 2 , , 9.4 , , .457 , , — , , .900 , , 2.0 , , .5 , , .2 , , .0 , , 3.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 69 , , 2 , , 12.3 , , .539 , , — , , .775 , , 3.0 , , .4 , , .3 , , .4 , , 5.0

References

External links

NBA biography of Butler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Jackie 1985 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 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 NBA players