CHICAGO -- Jimmy Butler spun a basketball on his finger. Glenn Robinson Jersey . He joked around with Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving during a brief 1-on-1 exchange. He smiled as some of the NBAs biggest stars lobbed some playful barbs in his direction.Back in Chicago on the eve of the Olympics, Butler is fitting in quite nicely with the U.S. national team.There are a lot of great players on this roster, but more than just basketball players, I get to learn a lot more about them off the court, Butler said, who they are as people and their families, and how they act, their personalities. I think thats been my favorite part of this whole journey, just getting to know the guys that I go up against every year.Its good practice for the fall, when Butler returns to a new-look Bulls team that suddenly includes a pair of longtime opponents for the versatile swingman.Derrick Rose is gone, traded to the New York Knicks. All-Star center Pau Gasol landed in San Antonio. But Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo decided to join Butler in Chicago, providing championship experience, but also two more players on the wrong side of 30 who like to have the ball in their hands.Im excited. I know they are as well, Butler said before Thursdays Team USA practice at the United Center. Its a new start for a lot of us.Butlers reputation also took a hit in the wake of Chicagos 42-40 finish in April, ending the franchises string of seven consecutive playoff appearances. The two-time All-Star was openly critical of new coach Fred Hoiberg and did not click with Rose last season.Asked about speculation he had a hand in Chicagos offseason activity, Butler brushed the notion away like he would an overzealous defender.That has nothing to do with me. I dont move guys, he said. Its like I always say, people are going to think what they want to think.That doesnt bother me, he continued. I know where I stand. I know who I am.Butlers inclusion on the national team establishes the 6-foot-7 Marquette product as one of the best players in the world, part of a steady rise for the No. 30 selection in the 2011 draft. On the 12-player roster for Team USA, only Draymond Green and DeAndre Jordan are lower draft picks.Butler, 26, averaged 20.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists last season. He has increased his averages for scoring and assists in each of the last four years.I knew he was a workhorse, but that man really never stops working, Golden State guard Klay Thompson said, and I give Jimmy a lot of credit because he came into this league and obviously he didnt have the hype he (would) if he was like a top-five pick, but hes worked himself into an All-Star and one of the best wings in the game.Before this Olympic run, U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski had only seen Butler on TV.The very first thing is just how strong and what a great athlete he is, Krzyzewski said. Then what a good guy he is, and then what an outstanding competitor. You felt he was going to check every box, but you put two checks in each of these boxes. Hes terrific, and hes a really good guy.Krzyzewski said Butler and Paul George are the most versatile players on the team, capable of guarding any position. Butler had four points and three rebounds while playing 14 1/2 minutes in the United States 107-57 exhibition victory over China on Tuesday night.Next up is a matchup with Venezuela on Friday night at Butlers home with the Bulls, and then a trip to Houston for one more game against Nigeria before departing for Brazil. When it comes to the Olympics, Butler said he just wants to win.Its a very familiar response for U.S. assistant Tom Thibodeau, who coached Butler with the Bulls before he was fired in May 2015.To see how much hes grown from his first year in the league to what hes become, its a testament to how hard hes worked, his intelligence, his drive, Thibodeau said. Each year hes gotten better, and I think his makeup will allow him to continue to improve each year.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Corey Knebel Jersey . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. Orlando Arcia Jersey . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. http://www.brewersteamshop.com/Brewers-B...an-Kids-Jersey/ . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. RIO DE JANIERO -- Her Snapchat photo from the bus ride to opening ceremonies was characterized by Serena Williams as her hungry face.It definitely wasnt a happy one as she described a long, cold, miserable journey: So I dont mean to be Debbie Downer or a Serena Downer, but Im kind of ready to go, she wrote. Im really tired, Im overwhelmed.By the time she got to Maracana Stadium, the photos and videos turned to twerking, and her sense of wonder at her fourth Olympic Games.This is so cool, Williams wrote.Thirty-six hours later, the world No. 1 found another antidote to jet lag and Rio traffic as she stepped onto center court at the Olympic Tennis Center for her first match and dispatched Australian Daria Gavrilova 6-4, 6-2 on a cool, windy Sunday afternoon before a vocal crowd.In Williams first match since capturing Wimbledon last month and tying the Open Era record with 22 Grand Slam titles, it was not as easy a victory as some may have expected against her 46th-ranked opponent. The competitive first set took 48 minutes.It feels good, Im happy to win my first match, said Williams, who committed 37 unforced errors to 28 by her opponent and converted 5-of-13 break point chances to 2-of-6 by Gavrilova. No one wants to go out in the first round. Its always a little tricky. You at least want to win a match, so I feel really good about that. And it wasnt an easy match for me today. She has a lot of big wins and she plays really well, so I was very happy.Gavrilova, 22, who represented her native Russia until 2015, when she emigrated to Australia, has career victories against Grand Slam champions Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and twice Petra Kvitova.To be honest, I got really tired in the second set, Gavrilova said. I played pretty late last night, and it really affected me. I got really flat, and you cant be flat against Serena because you have to run all the time.Gavrilova admitted to being slightly offended by all the people offering their regrets at her unfortunate draw, and indeed she did not go down easily. Manny Pina Jersey. You know youre playing the best in the world, but youre still trying to beat her ..., she said. Everyone is like, Oh, Im so sorry, [when they heard the draw], and I was really getting annoyed.Williams said she was happy to get through on a day in which the wind whipped on the hardcourts. The conditions definitely didnt make it easy, she said.And as is often the case, the crowd rooted heartily for the underdog. But as the match wore on, the characteristic shrieks and fist pumps became more frequent on Williams winners. With her coach, agent and sisters looking on from their courtside seats, this may as well have been a Grand Slam final. Williams competitiveness in sealing the victory revealed the athlete and patriot she and sister Venus are.Their four Olympic gold medals each are the most of any tennis player, and Venus, beset by a virus Saturday night causing her to lose her first-round match, could not help her sister advance beyond the first round of doubles. The Williams sisters were upset by Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycová on Sunday evening.While many multimillionaire professionals chose to bypass the Games, nothing, Serena said, would have kept her away from these Olympics.I didnt consider not coming, she said. I really wanted to be here. I was planning to be here since London, so it wouldve been a real pity if I made all these big plans and I couldnt make it. So I tried everything I could to come to Rio.The Olympic experience is always different. Youre not the focus. There are so many different athletes. 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