Butler sent teammates hoops amid their COVID-19 hiatus. They weren’t easy to assemble.
Jimmy Butler made headlines in April for sending hoops to his Heat teammates.
Turns out the baskets weren’t too easy to assemble.
Meyers Leonard told the New York Times that putting the hoop together took him six hours — partially because of a lack of equipment.
“Ever try putting together an IKEA dresser?” Leonard, who claimed to be rather handy, said. “This hoop was like putting together three of them.”
Leonard later reiterated his “three IKEA dressers” asseration on Twitter, to which fellow teammate Solomon Hill seemed to agree.
Hill and Leonard weren’t the only two Heat players who had problems using Butler’s gift. Gabe Vincent and Kyle Alexander, both of whom are on two-way contracts, live in a hotel and simply had nowhere to put the hoop, according to the New York Times.
The Miami Herald first reported Butler’s generosity in mid-April, a little over a month since the coronavirus forced the NBA to suspend play indefinitely. After buying a hoop for his himself, the All-Star wing decided to spread the love, sending portable baskets to each Heat player and coach.
“This is what we do,” Butler told the Times. “This is our coping mechanism. We shoot.”
Goran Dragic, who managed to piece together his hoop with an unclear amount of difficulty, was grateful.
“My first hoop [that I have] is for kids,” Goran Dragic said April 19 in an Instagram Live discussion with Heat television host Jason Jackson. “So basically, it was not a real hoop for me. Yesterday [Saturday] I was putting together all these pieces and finally I made it. I already shot some shots to take advantage of that. Jimmy, thank you brother. I appreciate it.”
As the Times reported, several NBA players have been unable to put up shots for weeks due to not having at-home hoops and the closure of nearly every space with a basket.
The Heat, however, could see their near two month hiatus end rather soon. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez recently said the team would be permitted to workout inside AmericanAirlines Arena if the NBA chooses to reopen practice facilities on May 8.
This story was originally published May 5, 2020 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Butler sent teammates hoops amid their COVID-19 hiatus. They weren’t easy to assemble.."
