During the 2023 Roland Garros, Coco Gauff shared an interesting story with Jimmy Butler who led Miami Heat to the NBA Finals.
The young American is a big Heat fan and she followed their results also during her stay in Europe. Also NBA star Jimmy Butler is a tennis fan, as he recently attended one of the matches of the ATP World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.
But the six-time NBA All-Star is also a supporter of the WTA tennis and he's friends with Gauff. After winning her first-round match at the 2023 Roland Garros, the American shared 'a Jimmy Butler story' that everyone wanted to know about, while sharing that she checked the results first thing in the morning.
"Yeah, I will, now that we're in the finals. Yeah, I did not watch, 2:30 a.m. is a tough time zone, especially playing the next day. First thing I did this morning was look at the results. Very relieved. I kind of held my breath."
The story, which centers on Butler's confidence in his team's ability to reach the NBA Finals, offers insight into the mental strength of the NBA star.
"The Jimmy Butler story. This was before we were in the playoffs, the Heat were in the playoffs, he offered me tickets to see the last home game of the season. Then he DM'd me a couple weeks later, asking if I wanted more tickets to see the postseason. I said, I won't be here. I'll be in Madrid and then Rome and then France."
According to Gauff, Butler's confidence in the Heat's abilities was so strong that he offered her family tickets to the NBA Finals before the team had even qualified for the playoffs.
"And then he said, Okay, when we make the finals, let me know if your family wants some tickets. So this was before we were even in the playoffs. This is before we lost to the Hawks for the first play-in game."
Despite public doubt about the team's chances, Butler's mentality resonated with Gauff, who appreciated his assuredness.
"I just felt like I knew that -- 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." Now that we are in the finals I can say that story."
"But I remember screenshotting it and sending it to my family and I was, like, Oh, we're going, we're going to the finals."
A few weeks later, Gauff could confirm that Butler was actually right about his team reaching the NBA Finals. In the Conference Finals, Miami Heat beat Boston Celtics in game seven, winning 103-84, and Gauff will certainly also follow every match of the Finals against the Denver Nuggets.
"So that's my Jimmy Butler story. He pretty much said we were going to the finals before we even qualified for the playoffs, and I just really like that mentality of him. So that's the story (smiling)."
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