Jimmy Butler and his former coach Tom Thibodeau shared hugs before and after the Bulls’ 99-94 defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night at the United Center. Butler, now one of the NBA’s biggest stars, poured 27 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists into his box score in Chicago’s worst loss of the season. It was the kind of performance Bulls fans have come to expect from the two-time All Star. But when Butler came into the league as the last pick in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft, not many people expected him to become a household name, let alone a scoring machine.

There was one night, however, that Thibodeau pinpoints as the moment he knew the Bulls had found someone special in the Marquette kid. And it had nothing to do with his offensive game.

Bright Lights, Tough Gig

February 2, 2012. The Bulls are in New York taking on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Thibodeau is without the services of his best wing defender Luol Deng, who would’ve been tasked with guarding superstar Carmelo Anthony. Instead, Ronnie Brewer gets the tough assignment for most of the evening. It doesn’t go well, particularly in the 3rd quarter when the Knicks made a strong run to get back in the game. Anthony scored 12 of his 26 points in that frame on 6-10 shooting.

Clinging to a two point lead entering the 4th quarter, Thibodeau makes a bold move. He switches the untested Butler onto Carmelo. True to Thibs’ form, he hasn’t shown the rookie many minutes yet this season. He hasn’t earned the coach’s trust. Now he throws Jimmy to the metaphorical wolves, matched up with a superstar scorer on the NBA’s brightest stage. “That guy’s killing us. Go stop him, kid.”

And that’s exactly what Butler did.

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