Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler has bromance with Neymar, supports Emma Raducanu and goes driving with Lan
He may not have the cache of LeBron James or Steph Curry, but Jimmy Butler is quickly becoming famous outside of the US thanks to his love for global sports.
Basketball already has a good case for the second-biggest sport worldwide after football, thanks to its international talent pool and easy access for aspiring kids.
And Butler is putting himself up there with the best, but he has one thing missing from his repertoire.
Despite being a six-time all-star, Butler has never won the NBA finals, something he’s looking to put right this year, his 13th in the league.
Initially picked first overall by the Chicago Bulls in 2011, Butler is now with the increasingly popular Miami Heat, and back for another run in the finals.
The NBA finals between the Heat and Denver Nuggets is currently tied 1-1 before Game 3 on Thursday.
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And backing him all the way will be a number of global sporting superstars, some perhaps much better known in the UK.
Chiefly among those is Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil’s Neymar, who has even triggered a bromance with the 33-year-old basketball superstar.
Explaining their friendship, Butler said: “I met Ney in 2017. I was always wearing Brazil jerseys and I would go to Paris for fashion week.
“Somehow, some way we just ended up connecting. We sat down for dinner, we hung out in Paris, and our relationship has grown from there. I’ve visited him in Brazil a few times.
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“I’d watched little-league soccer before but never watched a professional game. What better place to watch it than at the Olympics? So we went and watched Neymar and Brazil win. I knew it was going to be crazy because it was Brazil playing in Brazil in the final.
“I knew it was going to be on a completely different level to an American football game or a basketball game. It was a high-level game and the crowd was just so into it. It felt like nobody ever sat down, nobody was ever quiet.
“It made me love the game and my curiosity about soccer grow a lot. From then on out, I have loved Brazilian soccer. Neymar’s been one of my favourite players ever since.
“I love PSG, but I’m really a fan of players. Neymar’s at PSG, Pogba’s with Man U – he’s another I’m really close with – so I watch their games. I always try to watch the games, and if I can’t watch the games, I’m always checking in on the scores.
“I pay attention to Barcelona because of [Antoine] Griezmann. Man City, because one of my best friends, that’s his favourite team. And I kind of have to watch Liverpool, just because they’re so, so good right now. So I keep up with a lot of different teams.”
He also keeps up with two of Britain's leading new wave of sports stars, US Open winner Emma Raducanu, and Formula 1 mega talent Lando Norris.
Butler was recently seen offering Raducanu support in her battle back from injury, and has even called her ‘one of my favourite athletes’ alongside Serena Williams.
In 2019, he got a taste of Formula 1, and Norris drove him round the Canadian Grand Prix circuit leaving the 6ft 7in forward terrified.
Butler coined the phrase “You drivin’ drivin’!” and has expressed his love for F1 ever since.
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His celebrity friends aren’t just limited to sport either, with Butler regularly holding catch-ups with Mark Wahlberg, star of The Departed and The Fighter.
So it’s fair to say that should the Heat beat the Denver Nuggets to the title this season, it won’t just be those in Miami happy to see Butler pick up his first ring.
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