One of the boldest moves done in the NBA offseason wasn’t made by a team’s front office, but rather, by Jimmy Butler of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
When Butler was traded to the Timberwolves by the Chicago Bulls back in June, he heard plenty of shots from critics, who accused the shooting guard of being a toxic figure for the Bulls, thus facilitating the rapid decline of the previously perennial playoff contender. Butler had had enough of the rumors so he dictated his number out loud during a press conference in Minnesota, egging his detractors to contact him directly instead.
Any celebrity who gives out his number in public should expect a deluge of messages and calls reigning down on his phone. There’s a reason why in the movies, they use fake numbers, as elaborately explained by Dave Chappelle. Butler was aware of that, but also knew it wouldn’t be his problem to solve, too, because the one handling his business phone is his close friend, Ifeanyi Koggu. And according to Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated, Koggu had a rough time dealing with Butler’s phone, which vibrated and rang nonstop that it stopped functioning.
“There were too many coming in at the same time,” Koggu explains. “Calls and texts, but also cameras popping up with Facetime requests. You could never get to the main screen.” The phone became too hot to hold, so Koggu shut it down before restarting it. On a private plane to Los Angeles, Butler chatted with two fans on Facetime, including a boy who spent 45 seconds running around his house hollering for his older brother. Then the device froze for good.
Butler’s primary focus, however, is helping the Timberwolves become a title contender as soon as this coming season and not on fielding calls from strangers.
Minnesota’ season begins on Oct. 18 with a road game in San Antonio.
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