Jackie Butler (born March 10, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. He attended McComb High School in McComb, Mississippi, and transferred to Coastal Christian Academy in Virginia Beach for his final high school season. Butler skipped college and declared for the 2004 NBA draft, but was not selected. He joined the Great Lakes Storm of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), and won Rookie of the Year whilst also being named to the All-CBA First Team. Butler signed with the New York Knicks in February 2005. In July 2006, he signed with the San Antonio Spurs, whom he won the 2007 NBA Finals with. Early life and high school career Butler was born in McComb, Mississippi and attended McComb High School and originally committed to play at Mississippi State University but failed to qualify academically. He enrolled at Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina for academic purposes but he departed after a reported altercation with a teammate. He then transferred to Coastal Christian Academy prep school in Virginia Beach. Although he wanted to sign with the University of Tennessee in 2004, he decided to declare for the 2004 NBA draft, the first player that year to do so. Professional career Great Lakers Storm (2004–2005) Butler went undrafted in the 2004 NBA draft and signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was then cut training camp. Butler began the 2004–05 season with the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) where over 40 games with the Great Lakes Storm he averaged 18.1 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. He was named the CBA Rookie of the Year and selected to the All-CBA First Team. New York Knicks (2005–2006) On February 27, 2005, Butler signed with the New York Knicks for the rest of the 2004–05 NBA season, scoring ten points over three games. He later was drafted in the 2005 AAPBL draft. However, the league folded soon thereafter. When Larry Brown was hired as the New York Knicks' head coach, it was unclear what sort of role Butler would have. After the preseason, Brown publicly commented on how happy he was with Butler, and considered him his fourth rookie (after Channing Frye, Nate Robinson, and David Lee). After a rocky start, Butler was soon praised as being the Knicks' best center, with Eddy Curry and Jerome James having disappointing starts to their Knicks careers. For the 2005–06 NBA season