"I imagine being at the park and having my father rebound for me. "The reason I think my relationship with my children is so good is I think about everything I didn't have with my father," Butler says. Mattie, then 15, lived with her mother, Margaret Butler, until Caron was 4. He had no relationship with his biological father, who had left Racine and joined the Marines around the time Caron was born. When he was released at age 16, one of the first things Butler did was establish a relationship with her.Īt the time, it seemed doubtful Butler would finish high school, much less earn a college basketball scholarship and have a lucrative NBA career.
into the locker room to meet the Celtics players.ĭaughter Camary, at 15 a standout soccer and basketball player, was born less than a month into Butler's incarceration. Through Boston guard Ray Allen, Butler got Caron Jr. In Racine, a southeastern Wisconsin city of 80,000 bordering Lake Michigan, Claybrook and her husband, Melvin, help watch over Butler's two children from previous relationships.įor Caron Jr.'s 10th birthday a week ago, Butler arranged for his son and friends to attend the Bucks-Celtics game in Milwaukee. "When he comes around, she blocks quite a few people out," Andrea laughs. "Bye, Nanna! Got to go!" she hollered, running to her father. Mia was on the phone with Butler's mother, Mattie Claybrook, when her dad entered the family room. Sometimes, Andrea places her computer in Mia's room, so Butler can watch Mia play or sleep.Īfter attending Dallas' March 10 home game against New Jersey, Mia tried to wait patiently with Andrea in the Mavericks' family and friends room, between urgent calls to Butler's cellphone to ask when he was coming out of the locker room. Now, the Butlers mostly stay in touch by phone, or via Skype video. "I miss my pregame hug and kiss," Butler says. It's convenient, sure, but when he was at Washington, Wizards security would escort Mia to him while he stretched on the court during pregame warm-ups. After this season, Butler has one year left on his current contract.įor now, he's renting former Mavericks coach Don Nelson's apartment at the W Dallas Victory Hotel and Residences, across the street from American Airlines Center. They returned two weeks later for Mia's birthday and house hunting for their planned move this summer. She and Mia came to Dallas for Butler's birthday, March 13. I haven't seen him smile so much in a long time."
"I think I cried all of Valentine's Day."īut when she watches Mavericks games on TV, Andrea is gratified that Butler "looks so happy. "Oh my God, that was a depressing weekend," Andrea Butler says by phone from Virginia. 13, he and Andrea realized this would be their first extended time apart since they met 10 years ago as University of Connecticut students. Andrea is expecting another girl in June and is getting her second degree, in social work, at George Mason University.Īs Butler hurriedly packed for Dallas on Feb. His wife, Andrea, and 6-year-old daughter, Mia, had to remain in Virginia. But while Butler regards the trade as a career godsend, the timing was difficult personally. The 6-foot-7, 228-pound swingman impressed new Mavericks teammates and fans with his rim-attacking and defensive ruggedness. When Butler and fellow trade acquisitions Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson instantly helped spark a 13-game Dallas winning streak, it wasn't hard to guess why former Washington coach Eddie Jordan nicknamed Butler "Tuff Juice."
13, some Dallas fans probably recalled seeing him on The Oprah Winfrey Show in September 2005, or in Sports Illustrated in February 2007. When the Mavericks acquired Butler from Washington on Feb. Whenever I get the opportunity to share my story and influence others, be a pillar in the community, I embrace it."
"I get paid millions of dollars doing something that I love. Now I look at myself, being in a great situation. "I look at what could have been," Butler says. The story line practically precedes his name, like "Hall of Famer" or "Nobel Prize winner." Yet through four NBA stops, including two All-Star seasons, Butler willingly remains known as the guy who got arrested 15 times by age 15 and was imprisoned for cocaine and firearm possession. As a wealthy, accomplished 30-year-old, he could classify his sordid past as youthful stupidity and move on. Many NBA fans know that Butler was a teenage drug dealer in his native Racine, Wis. It's the most indelible of the graphic mental snapshots Butler has carried through eight NBA seasons and, now, into his first postseason as a Dallas Maverick. Blinking back tears, Caron Butler peered out the prison van's back window at the devastation he had caused - the panic-stricken face of his mother, Mattie.įrantic, but helpless, she followed the van and her shackled 14-year-old son in her blue Mercury station wagon, steam spewing from its radiator.
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