He's already been in Juvenile Court 15 times on drug and weapons charges by the time he's 15. He served nearly a year in prison, and one by one he pays for the burial of the four friends who he used to hang with in the neighborhood park.
So I'm going to go all serious on someone nicknamed "Tuff Juice,'' who has already proved himself a winner getting here even if he never makes another basket?
If not for an ankle monitor keeping him grounded on his front porch after his release from prison, he probably joins a friend who wants to go to the park. His friend goes without him and two hours later he's shot dead.
"So you think you can put some heat on him?'' says Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro, and he gets a good laugh out of that."Incredible" doesn't quite cover it when talking about a young man like Butler, parked in solitary confinement for fighting a rival gang member. A slot in the door of his prison cell allows guards to feed him, but here he is in a swank hotel, sitting in his NBA warmups and waiters waiting only for his nod.
"Tell me I'd be here while I was sitting in solitary wondering what I was going to do with the one hour they let me out every day,'' he says, "and I would have said you are a liar.
TJ Simers, LA Times
Surprisingly, a positive article from Simers. Read the entire article, it's really worth it.
