Caron Butler

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Caron Butler
Caron Butler.JPG
Butler during his tenure with the Wizards
No. 5 – Los Angeles Clippers
Small forward
Personal information
Born (1980-03-13) March 13, 1980 (age 33)
Racine, Wisconsin
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight 228 lb (103 kg)
Career information
High school Washington Park (Racine, Wisconsin)
Maine Central Institute
(Pittsfield, Maine)
College Connecticut (2000–2002)
NBA Draft 2002 / Round: 1 / Pick: 10th overall
Selected by the Miami Heat
Pro career 2002–present
Career history
2002–2004 Miami Heat
2004–2005 Los Angeles Lakers
2005–2010 Washington Wizards
2010–2011 Dallas Mavericks
2011–present Los Angeles Clippers
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men’s basketball
Competitor for  United States
FIBA U21 World Championship
Gold 2001 Saitama Team competition

James Caron Butler, widely known as Caron Butler (born March 13, 1980), is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA.

Contents

Early life [edit]

Butler was born and raised in Racine, Wisconsin, where he suffered through a rough childhood; he was a drug dealer at age 11 and arrested 15 times before the age of 15.[1] Caron discovered his love for basketball while at the detention center.[2] Butler played in AAU basketball in '98 and '99.[3] After a brief career at Washington Park High School,[4] he enrolled at Maine Central Institute where he was successful enough to receive a scholarship to play at UConn for coach Jim Calhoun for two years.

College career [edit]

At Connecticut, Butler lost 15 pounds off his frame and developed his perimeter game. As a freshman, Butler led the Huskies, only two years removed from a National Championship, in both scoring and rebounding with 15.6 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game respectively.[5] The summer after his freshman season he started for the US team that took home gold in the 2001 FIBA World Championship for Young Men.[6]

Butler followed his spectacular rookie campaign with an even better sophomore season. Butler averaged 20.3 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore leading the Huskies to both regular season and tournament Big East titles. He was named co-Big East player of the year (along with Pittsburgh's Brandin Knight) and a second-team All American.[7] Butler led the Huskies to the Elite 8 of the NCAA basketball tournament. Despite 32 points from Butler, the Huskies lost a close game to eventual national champion Maryland Terrapins.[7] After the season Butler declared for the NBA draft.

NBA career [edit]

Butler defends former teammate Kobe Bryant

Butler was a lottery pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, selected with the 10th overall pick by the Miami Heat. He is remembered for his comments on draft day after nine teams passed over him, saying that he was going to make them pay for the rest of his career.[citation needed] In his first season with the Heat, he averaged 15 points and 5 rebounds per game, though during his injury-hampered second season his averages fell slightly to 9 points and 4 rebounds during in 68 games. At the end of the season, the Heat traded Butler, Lamar Odom, and Brian Grant to the Los Angeles Lakers for Shaquille O'Neal, with whom the Heat won their first NBA championship.

Before the 2005–06 season, the Lakers traded Butler and Chucky Atkins to the Washington Wizards for Kwame Brown and Laron Profit. Butler later signed a 5-year, $46 million dollar deal with the team. He became part of Washington's new "Big 3", a trio made up of teammates Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison. Butler was nicknamed "Tough Juice"[8] by coach Eddie Jordan for his aggressive and passionate play,[9] epitomized by Butler's 20 rebounds in the Game 6 loss of opening-round series against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On January 17, 2007, Butler converted his first game-winning basket, a dunk following a pass from DeShawn Stevenson with 2.2 seconds remaining against the Knicks to give the Wizards a 99–98 win.[10] Butler was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for January 15–21, 2007.[11] He would have his best season yet, posting career high averages in rebounds, assists, and points. He was also named as a reserve to the 2007 NBA Eastern Conference All-Star team, his first appearance.[12] However, he broke his hand late in the season attempting to block a shot and was forced to sit out during the playoffs along with the injured Gilbert Arenas as the Wizards were swept in their opening round rematch versus the Cavaliers.

Butler, who was sidelined with a hip injury, was selected as a reserve for the East in the 2008 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans, Louisiana but was forced to sit out. Due to the injury, Butler missed 20 of the Wizards' last 35 games of the season. He returned to the lineup on March 13 (his 28th birthday), when the Wizards hosted the Cavaliers. He registered 19 points (8-for-18 field goals) five rebounds in 41 minutes played in the Wizards' 101–99 win over the Cavs.[13]

On February 13, 2010 Butler was traded to the Dallas Mavericks along with Brendan Haywood and Deshawn Stevenson for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton, and Quinton Ross. The Mavericks would qualify for the 2010 NBA Playoffs as the second seed in the Western Conference, but would be upset in six games by the San Antonio Spurs. On January 4, 2011, it was announced that Butler would undergo surgery on his knee and would miss the rest of the season.[14] The Dallas Mavericks dedicated their 2011 playoff run to him, and won the 2011 NBA Finals.

On December 9, 2011, Butler signed a three-year, $24 million deal with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Personal life [edit]

He lives in Centreville, Virginia with his wife, Andrea, and daughter, Mia. He has another daughter, Camary, and son, Caron Jr., who live in Racine. He has a habit of chewing on straws which he picked up back in AAU ball in '98 or '99.[3] His straws of choice are from McDonald's.[3] While playing for the Washington Wizards, he had an addiction to the soda Mountain Dew. He said he drank about six 12 ounce sodas a day and would wake up in the middle of the night to have one. [15]

Butler attended a surprise birthday party for Anthony Fadel, a 16-year-old in the Washington, D.C. area when invited by the boy's family.[16] The party was held in May 2007, and the event was primarily reported by Internet blogs, since Wizards PR purposely did not cover the event to preserve the sincerity of Butler's gesture.[17]

After working at Burger King in his youth, Butler now owns 6 of the fast food restaurants across the US.[18] He is currently taking Business Management classes at Duke as well.[18]

NBA career statistics [edit]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season [edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2002–03 Miami 78 78 36.6 .416 .318 .824 5.1 2.7 1.8 .4 15.4
2003–04 Miami 68 56 29.9 .380 .238 .756 4.8 1.9 1.1 .2 9.2
2004–05 L.A. Lakers 77 77 35.7 .445 .304 .862 5.8 1.9 1.4 .3 15.5
2005–06 Washington 75 54 36.1 .455 .342 .870 6.2 2.5 1.7 .2 17.6
2006–07 Washington 63 63 39.3 .463 .250 .863 7.4 3.7 2.1 .3 19.1
2007–08 Washington 58 58 39.9 .466 .357 .901 6.7 4.9 2.2 .3 20.3
2008–09 Washington 67 67 38.6 .453 .310 .858 6.2 4.3 1.6 .3 20.8
2009–10 Washington 47 47 39.4 .422 .263 .877 6.7 2.3 1.4 .3 16.9
2009–10 Dallas 27 27 34.4 .440 .340 .760 5.4 1.8 1.8 .3 15.2
2010–11 Dallas 29 29 29.9 .450 .431 .773 4.1 1.6 1.0 .3 15.0
2011–12 L.A. Clippers 63 63 29.7 .407 .358 .813 3.7 1.2 .8 .1 12.0
2012–13 L.A. Clippers 78 78 24.1 .424 .388 .833 2.9 1.0 .7 .1 10.4
Career 730 697 34.4 .437 .339 .846 5.4 2.5 1.5 .3 15.5
All-Star 1 0 16.0 .143 .000 .000 4.0 1.0 .0 .0 2.0

Playoffs [edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2004 Miami 13 13 39.3 .386 .182 .825 8.5 2.4 2.2 .5 12.8
2006 Washington 6 6 43.7 .416 .214 .828 10.5 2.7 2.0 .7 18.5
2008 Washington 6 6 41.0 .460 .238 .871 5.7 3.8 1.8 .2 18.7
2010 Dallas 6 6 33.7 .434 .304 .926 5.8 1.3 1.5 .8 19.7
2012 L.A. Clippers 10 10 26.8 .359 .258 .750 3.0 1.0 .6 .2 8.6
2013 L.A. Clippers 6 6 22.7 .478 .250 1.000 2.7 .0 .3 .3 8.5
Career 47 47 34.6 .413 .250 .847 6.1 1.9 1.4 .4 13.7

References [edit]

  1. ^ Overcoming the Odds - Oprah.com
  2. ^ Overcoming the Odds - Oprah.com
  3. ^ a b c On Caron Butler and Straws
  4. ^ Lee, Michael (2008-02-16). "The Great Escape". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-02-18. 
  5. ^ Caron Butler Statistics - Basketball-Reference.com
  6. ^ http://www.usabasketball.com/history/ymwc_2001.html
  7. ^ a b www.UConnHuskies.com Mens Basketball
  8. ^ Banged-up Wizards expect to have Butler back in lineup against Cavs
  9. ^ http://washingtontimes.com/sports/20060417-122458-4991r_page2.htm
  10. ^ Butler's dunk in final seconds lifts Wizards past Knicks
  11. ^ NBA.com: Butler, Nash Named NBA Players of the Week
  12. ^ "2007 All-Star Reserves Announced", NBA.com, 2 February 2007.
  13. ^ Butler returns as Wizards dodge Cavs, get back to .500
  14. ^ Caron Butler out for season
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ "A Caron Butler Surprise". The Washington Post. 
  17. ^ ESPN - Caron Butler in the Basement - TrueHoop
  18. ^ a b Helin, Kurt . " "Caron Butler used to work at a Burger King, now owns six", nbcsports.com, July 21, 2010.

External links [edit]

Portal icon Biography portal
First round
Second round
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