SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick breaks down the Game 2 performance by Donovan Mitchell and the Jazz vs. the Thunder and whether the Timberwolves have any hope of coming back from 2-0 against the Rockets. USA TODAY Sports
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.
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.
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick on Twitter @Sam_Amick
