More on Jimmy Butler Injury
Tim Bontemps: Jimmy Butler practiced today for the Sixers.
Keith Pompey: #Sixers coach Brett Brown expects Butler, Embiid and Chandler to all play tomorrow vs. #Lakers.
Harrison Wind: 76ers coach Brett Brown says Jimmy Butler isn’t playing but is in the air right now on his way to Denver to join his teammates on the bench for tonight’s game.
Tom Moore: #Sixers hand out medical update saying Jimmy Butler 'is seeing a specialist in Los Angeles for further evaluation and will join the team in Denver.' Joel Embiid will miss Saturday game vs. #Nuggets.
Shams Charania: 76ers star Jimmy Butler will see a specialist for his sprained right wrist today in Los Angeles, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium.
Tom Moore: Jimmy Butler (wrist) not playing tonight. #Sixers
The hope is that rest and rehabilitation will be enough to take care of the problem, sources said, and prevent Butler from missing significant time. The Sixers are in the midst of a brutal stretch in their schedule that sees them face 12 consecutive teams with winning records, including a four-game West Coast trip to face the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings beginning Saturday.
Serena Winters: Jimmy Butler is out tonight (mild right wrist sprain). Butler had experienced some discomfort after last game & is receiving treatment. He is currently day to day (and questionable for Weds. game).
Serena Winters: Jimmy Butler questionable for tomorrow’s game with a rib contusion. Joel Embiid still listed as questionable with right ankle soreness.
Serena Winters: Lots of #Sixers updates for tonight’s game. Joel Embiid is questionable with left knee soreness. Jimmy Butler is out with an upper respiratory infection. Wilson Chandler is out with an upper respiratory infection.
Serena Winters: Jimmy Butler is back, will start for the #Sixers tonight.
Keith Pompey: As of right now, Jimmy Butler’s status for today’s game will be a game-time decision. #Sixers vs. #Cavs
Serena Winters: Jimmy Butler (strained groin) will not play tonight. Furkan will start in his place. Mike Muscala will play tonight.
Jon Johnson: Sounding like Butler might play in CLE. If not, game after.
Jon Johnson: Butler injury will continue to be day-by-day
Kyle Neubeck: Brett brown says he does not yet have any information on Butler’s injury and still needs to get together with the medical staff
Serena Winters: Jimmy Butler has a strained groin and will not return.
Serena Winters: Jimmy Butler will play tonight.
Keith Pompey: #Sixers swingman Jimmy Butler is listed as questionable with a sprained left ankle on the team’s game notes.
Chris Haynes: Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Jimmy Butler is expected to be available tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
Christopher Hine: Tom Thibodeau said Jimmy Butler is playing tonight. Jeff Teague is still out, “day to day.” Tyus Jones will return tonight after a one-game absence.
Dane Moore: Jimmy Butler is questionable to play this evening due to an illness. He did not speak to the media after shootaround and I did not see him in the hallways. I don’t know if he is/was in the building this morning. But usually, with Jimmy, you know.
Tim MacMahon: Thibs on decision for Jimmy Butler to skip this trip: “I knew going in, looking at the schedule, where we were and the amount of time he’s practiced, I knew we would talk after the game. It’s what I wanted, too. Obviously, I wanted his input, but I wanted to be smart about it.”
Tim MacMahon: Jimmy Butler didn’t make the trip to Dallas with the Timberwolves. Thibs said decision to rest him was made when they talked after last night’s game. Team announced it this afternoon.
Jimmy Butler (precautionary rest) will not play in the Wolves' game in Dallas on Saturday night. The Wolves are making sure to bring Butler along slowly after he missed much of the preseason so they will be giving him the game off on the second night of an early season road back-to-back.
Mark Medina: The T-Wolves game notes listing Jimmy Butler out tonight because of offseason surgery on his right wrist. I wonder if there's another reason 🤔
Jon Krawczynski: Exactly what Butler had addressed has not been specified. But it is clear it was his choice to have the procedure. He is not at USA Basketball in Vegas this week.
Thibodeau said Butler experienced just “general soreness” in his knee at season’s end, but won’t need any other procedures after he had February surgery on his meniscus.
Jerry Zgoda: Thibs said Butler had "just general soreness" w/ knee after season, said he won't need any other procedures, praised his toughness for changing team's fortune and "culture" during 47-win season
Jimmy Butler (12.0 ppg in this series) is dealing with a sore right wrist he refuses to discuss in addition to coming off of knee surgery. "Nobody really cares if you're nicked up. If you put on that jersey and go out there and play, you've got to produce. You've got to do what they got you here to do. So 40, 50, 95, 100 [percent], I'm out there playing. Nobody cares if I'm nicked up or not."
Kyle Ratke: Thibs says Jimmy's "a go." He'll warm up, but it sounds like he'll play tonight. No update on minutes.
Timberwolves guard Jimmy Butler is planning to return to Minnesota’s lineup Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers to begin his comeback from February knee surgery, according to two people familiar with Butler’s decision.
Kyle Ratke: Jimmy Butler available to play tonight, team announces. Rose and Teague also available.
Chris Dempsey: Jeff Teague is “expected to be a go,” coach Tom Thibodeau said for tonight vs. Denver. Jimmy Butler’s status is still up in the air.
TJ McBride: Malone on if Jimmy Butler will play: "You kidding? Come on. He's going to play. We're preparing for him to play."
Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said both Butler and starting point guard Jeff Teague will decide after warming up whether they’ll each play in tonight’s crucial late game against the Nuggets that has all kinds of playoff implications. “It’s really hard, but I gotta realize that at the end of the day, it’s my decision, my career. So I have to listen to my body, go out there knowing I can go 100 percent, no matter for how many minutes it’s going to be for. I don’t want to favor anything. I want to know I can go out there and play.”
Jon Krawczynski: You can tell Jimmy is conflicted. Wants to jump into the fight, but has to be smart. "I gotta realize that at the end of the day, it’s my decision, my career. I have to listen to my body."
Jon Krawczynski: Butler also said this about how his body responded from the workouts on Mon and Tue: "I feel like I’m a really good player. I can still put the ball in the basket a little bit and I feel like I’m ready to get out there with my guys. We’ll see how I feel before the game. "
Sam Amick: Jimmy Butler took part in five-on-five action today for the first time since his Feb. 23 meniscus injury, I'm told, and it went well. The T-Wolves star remains on track for a return before the playoffs, but his return date remains unclear. Minnesota plays at Denver Thursday.
Butler continues to work himself toward a return from knee surgery before regular season’s end. On Sunday, he went through what Thibodeau called a “heavy conditioning day” and this week will participate in five-on-five contact scrimmages, which Thibodeau calls “the big thing.” Following Thursday’s visit to Denver, the Wolves play again Friday in Los Angeles against the Lakers.
Jon Krawczynski: Derrick Rose and Jeff Teague officially listed as questionable for tonight. Jimmy Butler remains out.
Jerry Zgoda: Thibs called yesterday a recovery day for Butler, said today will be a heavy conditioning day and then 5-on-5 contact scrimmaging will follow this week. After tonight, Wolves next play Thursday at Denver. "He's doing good," Thibodeau said.
Bernard Lee: Few things 1. He didn’t do anything to his cartilage in any way shape or form and 2. I think it was his Normatech you saw him carrying, he doesn’t have a brace. Thanks @BloodStrib
But Jimmy Butler is here. And, at today’s morning shootaround at American Airlines Arena, while the rest of his teammates were getting ready for tonight’s game with the Dallas Mavericks, Butler was taking another step in his return from Feb. 25 right knee surgery. For the first time since injuring the cartilage in his knee against Houston Feb. 23 Butler was cleared for contact drills; he walked into the Wolves locker room this morning carrying a brace for that right knee. This is a significant step for Butler.
Butler has been doing on-court work for a while, doing some running and a ton of shooting. If today goes well, it should give everyone more confidence in Butler’s ability to return before the regular season ends. But, according to Thibodeau, he’ll have to clear a few more hurdles first. “It’s him being ready to go,’’ Thibodeau said. “I want him to have confidence in his body that he can go again. So, usually, what happens is you’re doing the on-court stuff. You start with non-contact. Then you phase in the contact and you build up. You start with one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three and then the five-on-five. And, after each step, you have to see how it responds the next day. So far it’s been pretty good.’’
Jimmy Butler and Crawford stayed on the court long after practice shooting three-pointers. Butler, coming back from Feb. 25 knee surgery, is improving rapidly. Thibodeau said he’s feeling good, doing two rehab sessions daily. But he has not yet been cleared for contact.
Jon Krawczynski: Jimmy Butler getting shots up 👀👀
Butler brought his blunt, take-it-or-leave-it leadership style from Chicago and used his familiarity with Thibodeau to lift Towns and Wiggins out of the pressure-free stages of their careers. But Butler’s unfortunate setback in the first game after the All-Star break removed those trusty training wheels. “You don’t want to see anyone get injured, certainly not Jimmy, and we know we can’t replace him individually. We have to do it collectively,” Thibodeau told Yahoo Sports. “But whenever someone goes out, it’s an opportunity for others to step up and grow. So we want to take advantage of this … and really, the only way you can learn is to go through it.”
Jon Krawczynski: No specific timeline yet for a jimmy Butler return but he likes how his body has responded to surgery.
Jerry Zgoda: Thibs said pre-game that Jimmy Butler is progressing while still in LA rehabbing his knee this week. He said JB not jumping yet, but is running on anti-gravity treadmill. "So he's moving along pretty well."
Butler had surgery on Sunday morning at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, wasting little time in getting on with it after an MRI revealed a damaged meniscus on Saturday afternoon. In what could be considered good news, Butler did not have to decide between repairing the meniscus versus removing it, which is often the difficult fork in the road that athletes face when dealing with an injury of this nature, league sources told The Athletic.
The Timberwolves announced on Sunday that team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Diane Dahm performed the procedure and said he would be sidelined indefinitely. But sources say that nothing has been ruled out yet, including what would no doubt be a dramatic postseason return should Butler's knee respond positively to the surgery and the Wolves hold on to their playoff position over these final 19 games of the regular season.
Butler met with Timberwolves doctors and specialists on Saturday after the MRI and also considered heading to California for a second opinion as things unfolded. But Butler was able to receive a second and third opinion on Saturday night, according to sources, and the decision was made to have the surgery on Sunday morning.
Jon Krawczynski: Jimmy Butler still has a 2nd opinion to get before any decisions are made on surgery and treatment. Will head out tomorrow morning to do that.
Nick Friedell: Thibs wanted no part of giving a timeframe on Butler's absence but Taj offered this observation. At a minimum it appears as if Butler will miss multiple weeks. Taj: "The doctors are saying some good things so we'll see in a few weeks maybe."
KC Johnson: Taj Gibson on Jimmy Butler: "He was talking so much trash on the plane, you didn’t even really think he was hurt. He came in today making jokes, being his normal self. I think he’s fine mentally."
Nick Friedell: Jimmy Butler is here at Target Center. He's on crutches but is in good spirits -- casually talking to reporters and Bulls/T'Wolves personnel.
Darren Wolfson: Jimmy Butler is a real mensch. He's spending time with a young man who's battling health hurdles. A torn meniscus wouldn't keep Jimmy from such a commitment (photo from @jbrioschi). #Twolves #AllEyesNorth
Shams Charania: Jimmy Butler is expected to undergo surgery in coming days and could return within 4-to-6 weeks, league sources tell Yahoo. Final timetable will be set after procedure.
Nick Friedell: Thibs says Butler is reviewing all his options with doctors and will get a second opinion. Thibs declined to reveal what kind of tear Butler sustained and declined to speculate how long Butler would be out.
