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. 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.
Caron discovered his love for basketball while at the detention center. Butler played in AAU basketball in '98 and '99. 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.
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. His straws of choice are from McDonald's.
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. 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.
After working at Burger King in his youth, Butler now owns 6 of the fast food restaurants across the US. He is currently taking Business Management classes at Duke as well. utler 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.
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 Lakers for Shaquille O'Neal, with whom the Heat won their first championship in the NBA Finals.
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. 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.
Caron Butler
Caron Butler
Caron Butler
Caron Butler
Caron Butler
Caron Butler
Caron Butler
Caron Butler
