Jimmy Butler has had quite the run leading a resilient Miami Heat squad this postseason. Entering the playoffs as the #8 seed, the Miami Heat defeated the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks early in the playoffs. After getting past the Knicks, Butler and Co. almost fumbled a 3-0 lead against the Boston Celtics. However, they came in clutch to deliver a Game 7 blowout at the TD Garden to make it to the NBA Finals.
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Despite having a pretty hectic schedule, Jimmy Buckets hasn’t compromised on doing the things he loves – drinking beer and wine, playing Spades, spending time with his daughter, and even going to an escape room. Butler once again finds his team in a precarious position after losing Game 1 against the Nikola Jokic-led Denver Nuggets. However, he has taken some time off basketball to regroup himself and come back stronger. A huge fan of athletes from different sports, it seems like the Heat star has been watching some French Open action recently.
In fact, the 33-year-old cheered on Coco Gauff following her 3rd round win in the competition. Huge fans of each other’s games, Butler and Gauff have been seen supporting each other on several instances. Being good friends, the two American stars even exchange texts and try to inspire each other. Gauff recently explained how the Heat’s ECF Game 7 win, despite losing 3 games straight before that, inspired her to clinch her opening-round win at the French Open.
“Honestly, today I told myself if Jimmy Butler didn’t freak out when they were up 3–0 and then all of a sudden it was 3-all, then I shouldn’t freak out from losing the first set.”
Jimmy Butler shares clip of Coco Gauff winning a point at Roland Garros
The 19-year-old tennis phenom played her Roland Garros 3rd round bout against Mirra Andreeva recently. Despite losing the first set in tiebreakers, Gauff went on to win the match 6-7, 6-1, 6-1.
Ahead of his Game 2 matchup of the NBA Finals, the Eastern Conference Finals MVP cheered Coco on by sharing a clip of one of her points from the clash, on his Instagram story.
Prior to the start of the Grand Slam, Gauff had revealed the conversation she had with Jimmy, which tells us a lot about the latter’s self-confidence. The world No. 6 revealed that the two-way star offered her tickets to the final regular-season game. However, when Coco revealed her packed schedule, Jimmy offered her family some tickets to the NBA Finals.
“He said, ‘OK, when we make the Finals, let me know if your family wants some tickets.’ So this was before we were even in the playoffs.
Everybody is like, ‘We have a 3% chance of making the Finals, but when he sent me that, I knew we were making the Finals, because he didn’t say ’IF we make the Finals’ — he said ‘WHEN we make the Finals.’”
Keep in mind, this conversation took place even before the Florida-based franchise was guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. That’s some Jordanesque confidence!
Butler’s admiration for other tennis stars
Before the NBA Finals series tipped off, Butler spoke about his admiration for athletes from different sports. Apart from deep diving into the bond he shares with Neymar Jr., the Miami Heat leader expressed his admiration for tennis stars Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, and Serena Williams.
While Williams retired from the sport a while ago, the likes of Zverev and Alcaraz are having a great French Open run so far. Making their way into the fourth round of the tournament, the youngsters are among the best tennis players in the world.
Meanwhile, one of tennis’ biggest star, Novak Djokovic has sided against Butler ahead of the NBA Finals. Djokovic made his support for his Serbian countryman clear when he said, “Go Nikola Jokic, go Denver all the way! I really like Jimmy Butler, I think he’s a great guy, I admire him a lot. But I gotta support my man Joker. So yeah, I hope they win their first ring.”
