Caron Butler

At 44 years old, Caron Butler has this physical status:

James Caron Butler (born March 13, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player.

He appeared for the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Detroit Pistons, and Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association over a 14-year career (NBA).

While playing for the Connecticut Huskies, Butler is a two-time NBA All-Star and was the 2002 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year.

Early life

Butler was born and raised in Racine, Wisconsin, where he lived through a rough childhood; he was a drug dealer from the age 12 and arrested 15 times before the age of 15. Butler discovered his passion for basketball while working at a youth detention facility. Butler competed in Amateur Athletic Union basketball in 1998 and 1999. He started working at Racine Park High School, where he was able to earn a scholarship to attend the University of Connecticut to compete for the Connecticut Huskies' men's basketball team for two years.

Personal life

Caron Butler is a Christian. Butler began to improve his life by reading Bible verses after being sent to a youth detention center. Butler started taking his basketball seriously after peering out his window at a basketball court at Ethan Allen Juvenile Detention facility. "God puts stuff in front of you for a reason," Butler explained of it. "God put his hands on my life," Butler continued. "I'm going to touch you so that you can touch others," says the king.

Butler used to chewing straws, which he acquired in AAU basketball in 1998 or 1999. McDonald's straws of choice were among his choices. He had a mountain Dew addiction while playing for the Washington Wizards. He said he drank six 12 ounce sodas a day and that he would wake up in the middle of the night to have one. He writes a book called Tuff Juice: My Ride from the Streets to the NBA, he says that teammates, especially Kobe Bryant, have attempted to reduce his Mountain Dew use. Butler has confirmed that he is still struggling with his heroin use to this day.

Anthony Fadel, a 16-year-old boy from Washington, D.C., was invited by the boy's family at a surprise birthday party. The party was held in May 2007, and it was mainly covered by internet blogs, because Wizards PR intentionally did not cover the event in order to preserve Butler's gesture's sincerity.

Butler began working at Burger King in his youth and now owns six of the nation's most popular fast food franchises. At Duke University, he has taken Business Management courses.

Butler is the son of Mattie Claybrook Paden. When he was born to join the Marines, his father was inherited from him. Melvin's mother married Melvin, and he has Melvin III, his younger brother.

Caron and Andrea Pink Butler attended the University of Conn's pre-college summer program. In 2005, the couple married in Las Vegas after their sophomore year. Butler has a daughter and son from his previous marriage. Andrea, Andrea's wife, has three other children.

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College career

Butler shed 15 pounds (6.8 kg) off his frame and improved his perimeter game at Connecticut. Butler, a freshman, led the Huskies, just two years removed from winning a national championship in both scoring and rebounding with 15.3 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game respectively. He started for the United States team that took home gold in the 2001 FIBA World Championship for Young Men in the summer, just like his freshman season.

Butler's sophomore season saw him win both regular and tournament Big East titles as well as a coveted MVP. He was named co-Big East player of the year (along with Pittsburgh's Brandin Knight) and a second-team All-American. Butler led the Huskies to the Elite 8 of the NCAA basketball tournament. Despite Butler's 32 points, the Huskies lost a close game to the eventual national champion Maryland Terrapins. Butler drafted for the NBA draft after the season ended.

NBA career

Butler was a lottery pick in the 2002 NBA draft, drafted with the 10th overall pick by the rebuilding Miami Heat. Despite being a rookie, Miami will rely on Butler immediately, and he will start in all 78 games he played in during the season, averaging 15.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and finished eighth in the league in steals with 1.8 per game. Despite Miami winning only 25 games and missing the playoffs, Butler was a consistent rookie, winning the rookie of the month awards four times during the season and then being selected to play in the rookie challenge game at that year's All-Star weekend in Atlanta. Butler will also be selected to the first team on the NBA All-Rookie Team by the end of the season. Dwyane Wade was drafted again by Miami's Dwyane Wade before the Los Angeles Clippers acquired Lamar Odom.

Butler suffered with injuries that hampered him throughout the season, but he would continue to play in just 56 of 68 games. His scoring average dropped to 9.2 points per game on the season, but Miami's balanced offense led by Wade, Odom, and Eddie Jones propelled Miami into the playoffs. The Heat defeated the New Orleans Hornets in the first round of a grueling 7 games tournament in which the home team won every game. With Butler's 23 points and 9 rebounds, Miami tied out the series in game 7. The Heat advanced to the play of the top seeded Indiana Pacers, who were widely favored and won the first two games of the season before Miami responded with two home victories to tie the series at two games apiece. In the fourth game, Butler scored 21 points with 10 rebounds, but the Pacers responded to win the series in 6 games. Following the season, Miami decided to reshuffle the roster and trade Butler, Odom, and Brian Grant to the Los Angeles Lakers for superstar center Shaquille O'Neal.

The Lakers had been a title contender, but they were now in rebuilding mode, led by superstar guard Kobe Bryant. Butler appeared in all of his games in the 2004-2005 season, averaging 15.5 points in a game with a then-high field goal percentage of 44.55 percent. The Lakers also struggled with injuries and a midseason coaching change, and they did not make the playoffs. Butler will be traded back to the Washington Wizards for Kwame Brown and Laron Profit, once more during the offseason.

Butler had signed a five-year, $46 million contract with the team upon his arrival in Washington. He was born in Washington's new "Big 3," a team made up of teammates Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison. Coach Eddie Jordan dubbed Butler "tough Juice" for his energetic and passionate play in the Game 6 loss of the Cleveland Cavaliers' Game 6 series against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Butler won by 99-98 after a pass from DeShawn Stevenson with 2.2 seconds remaining against the Knicks on January 17, 2007. Butler was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for January 15 to 21, 2007. He'll be having his best season yet this season, with career-high rebounds, assists, and points. In his first appearance, he was also named as a reserve for the 2007 NBA Eastern Conference All-Star team. However, he broke his hand late in the season trying to block a shot and was forced to miss the playoffs along with the injured Gilbert Arenas as the Wizards were swept in their opening round rematch against the Cavaliers.

Butler, who had been sidelined with a hip injury, was chosen as a reserve for the East in the 2008 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans, Louisiana, but he was forced to miss out due to a seat. Butler missed 20 of the Wizards' last 35 games of the season due to the injury. On March 13 (his 28th birthday), he returned to the lineup for the Cavaliers' first season. In the Wizards' 101-99 victory over the Cavs, he scored 19 points (8-for-18 field goals) and five rebounds in 41 minutes.

Butler, Brendan Haywood, and Deshawn Stevenson were sent by the Dallas Mavericks alongside Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton, and Quinton Ross on February 13, 2010. The Mavericks qualified for the 2010 NBA Playoffs as the second seed in the Western Conference, but the San Antonio Spurs shocked them in six games in the first round.

Butler was ruled out for the remainder of the 2010-11 season after undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured right patellar tendon. The Mavericks advanced to defeat the Miami Heat 4–2 in the 2011 NBA Finals, winning their first NBA title.

Butler signed a three-year, $24 million contract with the Los Angeles Clippers on December 9, 2011. He made the team twice in the playoffs during his two seasons as a starter for the Clippers.

Butler was traded from the Suns and JJ Redick from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Phoenix Suns on July 10, 2013, completing a three-way trade that included Jared Dudley from the Suns and JJ Redick from the Milwaukee Bucks, as well as two other second round picks being sent to the Bucks. The Suns traded Butler to the Milwaukee Bucks for Ish Smith and Viacheslav Kravtsov on August 29, 2013. Butler was bought out of his deal by the Bucks on February 27, 2014, and he averaged 11.0 points per game in 34 games.

Butler signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 1, 2014. Butler's season came to an end with 22 regular season games and 17 playoff games for the Thunder as they prepared for the Western Conference Finals, where they were defeated by the San Antonio Spurs.

Butler announced on July 15, 2014, he joined the Detroit Pistons for a two-year, $9 million contract.

Butler was traded by Shawne Williams and the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Ersan lyasova on June 11, 2015. Nevertheless, he was later waived by the Bucks on June 30, 2015.

Butler signed with the Sacramento Kings on July 23, 2015. He played in fewer minutes in the 2015–16 season and made just 17 appearances, averaging 3.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.

Butler exercised his player option with the Kings for the 2016–17 season on June 21, 2016. However, he was later waived by the Kings on July 4, 2016, after he reached an agreement with the team to have his contract buy out.

Butler's last NBA game was held on April 11, 2016, a 105-102 win over the Phoenix Suns, where he had 7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block.

Butler resigned on February 6, 2018.

Coaching career

Butler had been hired as an assistant coach for the Miami Heat on November 14, 2020.

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