MCAP Auto #80 - Caron Butler
2019-20 Panini Absolute Memorabilia - Retired Autographs Level 1 33/49
Survivor of a "rough childhood" Butler, who grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, started dealing drugs when he was just 12 years old and by the age of 15 he had been arrested 15 times. However, without this start in life Butler may never have earned the privileged life he enjoys today, as it was at a youth detention centre where he discovered his love for the game of basketball. Only a few years later he was receiving a letter from the University of Connecticut offering him a basketball scholarship.
As a freshman Butler averaged 15.3 points & 7.6 rebounds per game for a below average Huskies team. He also went to the FIBA U21 World Championships with Team USA and won the gold. The following year, Caron would lead UConn to Big East regular season and tournament success on the back of his 20.3 ppg & 7.5 rpg. In the NCAA tournament the Huskies would make it to the Elite 8, however Butler's 33 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists was not enough to get past Maryland.
Naturally, Butler nominated for the NBA Draft on the back of his strong college performances and he was selected with the 10th pick by the Miami Heat. He was an instant starter for the Heat and featured in 78 games his rookie season. His 15.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 8th best in the NBA 1.8 steals per game were enough to see him win East Rookie of the Month four out of a possible six times and he was also named All-Rookie First Team.
Butler struggled with injuries his sophomore season and with the Heat drafting Dwyane Wade and trading for Lamar Odom his numbers significantly dropped to 9.2 points per game, but the Heat were much improved and went to the playoffs as the 4th seed in the East. They faced a tricky match up with the 5th seeded New Orleans Hornets in the first round, however Butler contributed 14.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.9 steals per game including 23/9/2/2 in the Game 7 victory before taking the top seeded Indiana Pacers to six games.
The Heat then used Butler to secure the services of Shaquille O'Neal, whose partnership with Kobe Bryant in LA had become untenable after three championships together. He was packaged with Brian Grant, Lamar Odom, a future 1st and 2nd round pick and sent to the Lakers. Like his rookie season, Butler once again found himself as a key piece on a poor team, once again scoring over 15 ppg. The Lakers were rebuilding however and needed a big man to replace Shaq, so after one season on the west coast, Butler was sent back east to Washington with Chucky Atkins for Kwame Brown and Laron Profit.
DC was where "Tough Juice" was born. Given the nickname by coach Eddie Jordan for his "aggressive and passionate play". Upon arrival the Wizards let him get to work with Gilbert Arenas & Antawn Jamison. Butler responded with a career best year, putting up 17.6/6.2/2.5/1.7. The Wizards were eliminated in the first round after losing to LeBron James and the Cavs in six games, but Butler earnt himself a 5 year, $46m deal. The following season Butler made the All-Star game as a reserve, averaging 19 ppg but he broke his hand, blocking a shot late in the season and missed the playoffs.
Tough Juice once again was an All-Star reserve in the 2007-08 season, but was forced to sit out with a hip injury which caused him to miss a significant part of the season. He performed well in the playoffs but the Wizards were eliminated by James and the Cavs for the third year running. The following year Butler put up a career best 20.8 points per game, but the Wizards were hopeless and won under 20 games. Then the Gilbert Arenas/Javaris Crittenton gun incident happened and the Wizards blew up the roster. Butler was sent mid-season to Dallas with Brendan Haywood & DeShawn Stevenson for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross and James Singleton. Butler averaged a shade under 20 points in the series, but the Mavs were upset by the Spurs in the first round.
The following season Butler only managed 29 games for the Mavs before rupturing a patellar tendon, causing him to miss the rest of the season as the Mavs went on to win the title over Miami in six games. Despite getting a ring, Butler didn't return to Dallas, signing a 3 year, $24m deal with the Clippers in a return to LA. Now into his 30s, Butler was on his last legs as a started in the NBA and was an important support piece to the trio of Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin. The Clippers never managed to go far into the post-season with Butler though and going into the last year of his deal, Caron was once again dealt, this time to Phoenix with Eric Bledsoe in a three team deal so the Clips could acquire JJ Reddick and Jared Dudley. Still in the off-season, the Suns traded Butler to Milwaukee for Ish Smith and Viacheslav Kravtsov.
In Milwaukee, he averaged 11 points per game and managed to score 38 points in a game against the 76ers, however the Bucks were on their way to winning 15 games for the season so they bought him out and let him walk to OKC who used him off the bench to support Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka. The Thunder were unable to overcome the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.
The Detroit Pistons then signed Butler to a 2 year, $9m deal at the beginning of the 2014-15 season. Butler featured in 78 games, coming mostly off the bench, to average 5.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1 assist in 21 minutes. After one year in Detroit, the Pistons traded him and Shawne Williams to Milwaukee for Ersan Ilyasova. He was instantly waived by the Bucks and signed a 2 year, $3m deal with the Kings. He played 17 games for Sacramento before they waived him using the stretch provisions.
His last game was in April 2016, but he didn't officially announce his retirement until February 2018. During this period he worked as a basketball analyst for ESPN and later joined Fox Sports in this role.
Since his Wizards days Butler has struggled through an addiction to Mountain Dew and would drink approximately 6 cans a day including waking up in the middle of the night to have one. He also owns 6 Burger King restaurants after once working for a franchise in his youth.
As of November 2020, he is a member of the Miami Heat coaching staff who have just punched a ticket to the 2023 NBA Finals.
In his career, he managed 881 regular season games averaging 14.1 points, 5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals.