Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler are friends and have recruited one another before
While they battle it out on the court all the time, there are a ton of NBA superstars that are really close friends. Both Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler are two All-Stars that share a connection with one another and their friendship goes back a couple years as well.
Back in 2018, Butler talked about his friendship with Kawhi Leonard and talked with Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports about the bond they grew with one another through their shared experiences.
“We used to be with Jordan brand together, so we’d always spend a couple days in the summer down in San Diego or up in LA. You learn from guys that are that talented in the league…”
“I’ve been traded, he’s been traded. We just want each other to be happy, that’s where the common ground comes in. You just wanna hoop, smile, be able to love going to work everyday. That’s what the majority of our conversations have been about as of late.”
Butler and Leonard battled each other in the Eastern Conference Semifinals back in 2019, with Kawhi and the Raptors coming out on top and since then, there has been a strong mutual respect amongst the two star wings.
According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, Leonard even tried to recruit Jimmy Butler to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019 before Paul George was acquired.
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With Butler now under contract in Miami and the Heat being “his team,” he could very much look to recruit Kawhi to South Beach. These two guys would create one of the fiercest “one-two punches” in the league and given their two-way play, the Miami Heat would absolutely become title favorites in the Eastern Conference.
Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler are two friends who have a ton of respect for each other as friends and with Leonard having some interest already in Miami, Butler could really work on his friend this offseason in efforts to get Kawhi to potentially join him with the Heat.
