NBA star Jimmy Butler pays up and then some after fan charges $20 for fantasy league
Relax, Minnesota Timberwolves fans who are downtrodden about your team’s 2-0 deficit against the Houston Rockets. We have a feel-good story for you.
And as is so often the case, resident man of the people Jimmy Butler is the main character.
Ten months after he famously shared his cell phone number during his introductory T-Wolves press conference, the four-time All-Star who is renowned for his comic relief made one fan’s day – and maybe even his year – in typical Butler fashion.
As Sheldon Jack Bowen shared in a personal Facebook post (the details of which Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, confirmed to USA TODAY Sports), he added Butler’s number to a fantasy basketball group chat as a practical joke of sorts. So game after game, week after week, Bowen and his friends surely wondered if and when Butler might chime in to discuss the latest fantasy action. Truth be told, it was the kind of creative prank that Butler could appreciate.
Unbeknownst to Bowen, Butler had changed his number shortly after sharing it with the world.
Remember when Jimmy Butler posted his number on ESPN for his critics? Well we added him to our fantasy basketball group chat and would randomly joke about it. When the basketball season ended I jokingly sent him a message on Twitter he needed to pay his 20 dollar league fee. His agent messaged me for an address. I responded with I was totally joking but if he could send something for our league to joke about, that would be totally cool. Well today I got a package in the mail from Jimmy Butler and his agent Bernard Lee. A pair of game used Jordans autographed by Jimmy Butler. A Jimmy Butler twolves jersey and a 20 dollar bill for league fees. Pretty cool to see a athlete and agent generosity first hand. Thank you Jimmy and Bernard Lee. You are beyond generous.
At the end of the NBA’s regular season, Bowen sent Butler a message on Twitter joking that he owed him a $20 league-entry fee.
“@JimmyButler hey when you gave your number on sportscenter, I signed you up for my fantasy basketball league and you lost. You owe 20 dollars if you can pay that would be great. Let me know bruh”
After seeing the tweet, Butler coordinated with Lee to do much more than that. They sent the $20 along with a pair of signed, game-worn Jordan sneakers and a Butler jersey, with the prizes intended for this season’s fantasy league champion.
“Pretty cool to see a athlete and agent generosity first hand,” Bowen wrote in his post that included a picture of the gifts. “Thank you Jimmy and Bernard Lee. You are beyond generous.”
This is hardly the first time Butler’s personality has been front and center.
When he was traded from the Chicago Bulls to Minnesota in June, NBC Sports Chicago published a highlight reel of his funnier moments.
In early November, his visit with ESPN’s Sam Alipour included a canoe crash that went viral because, well, Butler screamed as if he was going to drown while falling into a few inches of water.
And now, there’s another Butler tale to be told.
Source:-https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2018/04/19/nba-playoffs-timberwolves-star-jimmy-butler-stuns-fantasy-league/534013002/
