Before ascending to NBA stardom, Jimmy Butler endured a challenging life story until miracles happened! Disregarding scores of dry statistics, NBA fans universally concur that Jimmy Butler ranks among the top stars in the league, boasting an annual salary of $33 million per season.
For a basketball player, that may appear to be the pinnacle that captures the hearts of thousands in love. However, the road to glory is not always lined with roses. For Jimmy Butler, things have been even more daunting than that.
On September 14, 1989, young Jimmy Butler was born in Tomball, a suburb of Texas. Like many other NBA colleagues, Butler did not know his father’s face. He abandoned his mother and son to seek his own pleasure, and “responsibility” was a word missing from this man’s dictionary.
But that is not the end of suffering for Jimmy Butler, because even the person who gave birth to him heartlessly gave up her son. At the age of 13, the skinny boy became an obstacle when his mother wanted to have a future with her new lover.
“I can’t imagine what could be more heartbreaking than my mom taking my hand out the door and saying, ‘I don’t like the way you look, you have to get out of this house!'” Jimmy Butler choked on his story on a TV show.
At the age of 13, Jimmy Butler became a homeless boy without a penny in his pocket. After school, this middle school boy had to go to bed, begging for food from each of his friends’ houses. This situation went on for 6 years until a blessing suddenly appeared!
During a summer basketball tournament in his senior year at Tomball High, Jimmy Butler was accidentally noticed by a fellow freshman. Jordan Leslie challenged Jimmy Butler to shoot 3 points, and then they quickly became close brothers.
Leslie took Butler home, gave him food, clothes, and a place to sleep, day after day, month after month. Leslie’s mother reluctantly accepted Butler at first, but then the woman with seven children agreed to let the black boy roam a home.
“They accepted me into the family, at that time I had nothing in my hand, she was very loving and always asked me what I wanted. It took me a long time to believe that a miracle happened to me,” the days later Butler received the love of his adoptive parents, of 7 siblings in the family, something he had never experienced in the first 18 years of his life.
That’s why Butler decided to drop out of Marquette University in Wisconsin because he missed his family so much. “Mother Michelle visits me often and always advises me to work hard; my life is too miserable. This is the only way for me to change my life and help my parents and siblings,” Jimmy Butler recalls.
Responding to expectations, in 4 years of playing at Marquette University, Jimmy Butler quickly emerged as a superstar player for his age. He received a 100% scholarship and was the best player in the school, averaging 15.7 points in the final year.
In the 2011 NBA Draft, Jimmy Butler was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the last round of the first round. Nearly a decade has passed, and this 30-year-old player is increasingly asserting his game in the most attractive basketball tournaments.
“Please! I know you’re going to write something. I’m just asking you not to write it in a harsh way; don’t make someone feel sorry for me. I hate that!
I have no regrets; I love everything that happened to me. It made me grow up and become the success I am today,” Jimmy Butler said in an interview with ESPN.
Despite being abandoned, Jimmy Butler later met his biological parents and gave them a lot of respect. Even the Miami Heat defender often provides economic support for his parents to improve their lives.
From an ugly abandoned boy, Jimmy Butler became a top NBA star, and his behavior earns admiration from all fans. As for Butler’s parents, behind the smiles and money received from their son, shame and regret must still haunt them every night!
