Jake Butt

podcast: @theblueprintum Color Analyst for @BigTenNetwork Business Inquiries: [email protected]

[NBA Courtside @NBA__Courtside]

Jay Willams says Jalen Brunson is the antithesis of what fanbases think about the NBA right now:

“He’s the antithesis. Well, guys are overpaid, he’s not overpaid. You think about other things teams are tanking, they didn’t tank they built it the right way, they built the right culture around that. Load management, when is he load managing? “Oh I hurt my pinky toe I can’t play.” This dude hurts his knee, he hurts his ankle, he comes back in and he closes a game down the stretch. You tell me this guy at 6’1, 6’2 isn’t the most likable player in the NBA right now, how do you root against a guy like that.”

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

No one is immune from criticism, especially when you’re making millions and millions of $$$$. But let’s not sit here and say the verdict is out on any underclassman player ever.

I got soooo much better as a sophomore from a freshmen. Then even more so going into my Jr season. By senior year I was chasing edges.. trying to get 5-10% better.

For Bryce, it’s just about asking the simple question at the end of every day, “Did I improve as a quarterback today?” Do that enough times, and play will improve while the win column fills up.

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

The biggest strides you take as a player are during your younger years. Bryce Underwood was 17 when he stepped on campus. He’s 18 now. I’m certain he knows that growth needs to happen, but the discourse around his game has gotten out of control.

If/ when he shows clear and major improvement this year, I hope there is equal praise to the noise we’ve seen.

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

The biggest strides you take as a player are during your younger years. Bryce Underwood was 17 when he stepped on campus. He’s 18 now. I’m certain he knows that growth needs to happen, but the discourse around his game has gotten out of control.

If/ when he shows clear and major improvement this year, I hope there is equal praise to the noise we’ve seen.

[FOX Sports PR @FOXSportsPR]

FOX UFL wraps up its 2026 season with a UFL Playoff matchup Sunday from St. Louis at 6:00 PM ET 🏈

Heading into the game, the complete regular season on FOX averaged 670,000 viewers, up +4% from 2025 (646,000) 📈

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

It was a troll. I thought it would be obvious (aside from OKC fans) given how it’s the exact opposite of the truth.

I actually tweeted the same thing about okc back in the regular season so was playing off that. Even if it is a miss, I’m just happy I don’t have to watch the Thunder flop anymore

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

Spurs play so aggressive on defense, to the point of nearly injuring their opponent, only to turn around and flop, foul bait, and dive on offense.

I can’t believe my eyes and can’t believe it’s been rewarded.

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

I love how much Wemby cares. I love how much he shows it. It’s organic, real, and refreshing. He will make over a billion $$ in his career, but one of the things that makes him special is that childlike joy and passion to win.

So fun to watch.

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

MSG is going to be electric!! Hopefully the broadcast keeps the crowd noise maxed out 🙏 can’t wait for the finals!

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

@will_2Cz It was honestly a troll to some of the OKC fans I see on here, as I genuinely cannot believe they defend the way they play

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

A few days/ weeks ago there was some NBA discourse about some stars/ players/ teams not caring about winning.

Compare that with how the spurs played last night and all series and it’s so easy to see what a championship standard looks like.

Spurs may be young, but led by Wemby, they play extremely hard and mostly smart basketball. Easy to root for and fun to watch.

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

@will_2Cz Legitimately jumped horizontally into the defender…. Which I thought the league made a point to *not* reward that motion.

I’m glad they were not rewarded with another finals opportunity. I had no skin in the game but was rooting my butt off for the spurs haha

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

That was NOT a shooting motion on SGA. He legit jumped sideways to create contact. Thought the NBA did away with rewarding that????

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

@JoshPateCFB @MichaelWBratton I agree with that

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

@DynastyDak There’s a little (mostly insignificant) amount of room to negotiate on the $$. The rest of it comes down to specific language in the contract

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

@ZachHeilprin Unfathomably special

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

@DanWolken @dennisdoddcbs Absolute insanity. And feels dangerous in the sense this could lead to unintended consequences.

That being said… the consensus is that the current trajectory is unsustainable and that something needs to be done.. yet no one knows how or what to do? 😬

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

@aakashgupta @ColemanESPN You speak as if this is a 100% truth, it’s not. This might be true for 10% of players…. Maximum

[Bud Elliott @BudElliott3]

Did some research this morning on playoff performance in the full NIL+Portal era (23-present) v the same number of playoff games before

“Everyone was paying players before” is a wildly oversimplified false equivalence.

Argue amongst yourselves

[Jake Butt @Jbooty88]

Watching Wemby right now must feel exactly how it felt for people to watch young LeBron. It’s just different.

This feels like we’re all witnessing Wemby take that next step in real time. What a shot! What a game!