Jimmy Butler III (born September 14, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Jimmy Buckets", he is a six-time NBA All-Star, a five-time All-NBA Team member, and a five-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. He won a gold medal as a member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic team.

Butler played one year of college basketball for Tyler Junior College before transferring to Marquette University. He was selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. In 2015, he was named the NBA Most Improved Player. After six seasons in Chicago, he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in June 2017, and was then again traded in November 2018, this time to the Philadelphia 76ers. In July 2019, he signed with the Miami Heat. During his first season with the team, Butler reached the NBA Finals. In 2021, he led the league in steals. In 2023, Butler and the eighth-seeded Heat played in the 2023 NBA Finals, their second appearance in four years. Amidst conflicts with the Heat's front office, Butler was traded to the Warriors in 2025.

Butler was born in Houston on September 14, 1989. His father, Jimmy Butler Jr., left the family when Butler was an infant. Butler lived with his mother in the Houston suburb of Tomball, until she kicked him out of the house when he was 13 years old. As Butler remembered it in a 2011 interview, she told him, "I don't like the look of you. You gotta go." He moved between the homes of various friends, staying for a few weeks at a time before moving to another house. Butler maintains a relationship with his parents, saying, "I don't hold grudges. I still talk to my family. My mom. My father. We love each other. That's never going to change."

In a summer basketball league before his senior year at Tomball High School, he was noticed by Jordan Leslie, a freshman football and basketball player at the school, who challenged him to a three-point shooting contest. The two became friends, and Butler stayed at Leslie's house for a few months, Leslie's mother and stepfather had six other children between them. Butler would later say, "They accepted me into their family. And it wasn't because of basketball. She [Michelle Lambert, Leslie's mother] was just very loving. She just did stuff like that. I couldn't believe it."

As a junior at Tomball High, Butler averaged 10 points per game. As a senior and team captain in 2006–07, Butler averaged 19.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game and was subsequently voted his team's most valuable player.

Butler was not recruited coming out of high school and chose to attend Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas.

After his freshman season at Tyler Junior College, where he had averaged 18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game, Butler received interest from Division I programs. Considered a two-star recruit by 247Sports.com, he was listed as the no. 127 junior college prospect in 2008.

Butler accepted an athletic scholarship to attend Marquette, where, as a sophomore in the 2008–09 season, he averaged 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game and recorded a free-throw percentage of 76.8%. He moved into the starting lineup as a junior during the 2009–10 season to average 14.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and received All-Big East Honorable Mention honors. Butler had two game-winning shots versus UConn and St. John's, to help Marquette finish 11–7 in the Big East and earn its fifth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. As a senior in 2010–11, he averaged 15.7 points per game and received All-Big East Honorable Mention for the second straight year.