Celtics, Bulls Scuffle After Jimmy Butler Trips Ex-College Teammate Jae Crowder

A couple of former college teammates got into it Thursday night in Chicago.

Bulls forward Jimmy Butler and Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder got a little tangled up, leading to a bizarre collection of shoves and technical fouls midway through the Bulls’ eventual 105-99 win over the C’s.

The two ex-Marquette teammates bumped into each other as Crowder chased down a loose ball, and Butler appeared to intentionally trip Crowder. At the very least, he didn’t do a whole lot to make sure Crowder didn’t topple over.

Isaiah Thomas didn’t take too kindly to seeing his Celtics teammate go down, and Rajon Rondo didn’t take too kindly to Thomas doing that, and well, it was “on,” so to speak.

When it was all said and done, all four players received technical fouls.

“Jae’s my guy,” Butler told reporters, per The Associated Press. “It’s the heat of the moment. That’s what’s supposed to happen.”

Thomas, meanwhile, just wanted to help a teammate.