Signing with the Sacramento Kings this offseason might have only been the second biggest part of Caron Butler's summer. The NBA veteran also saw the release of his autobiography, "Tuff Juice," which has earned some pretty famous fans in a few short months, such as Vice President Joe Biden.
Butler was at the White House recently for the "Champions of Change Law Enforcement and Youth" meeting, and he was accompanied by an old friend,according to USA TODAY's For The Win. Alongside Butler was Rick Geller, the Wisconsin police officer that Butler credits with saving his life.
As told to For The Win, Geller recalled the time he executed a search warrant on Butler's home. The teenage Butler had been selling drugs, but Geller says he found a young man trying to get out of that life:
"I’m thinking I’m going to nail this kid," Geller said. "We end up executing the warrant and I get inside and I start talking to this young man."
"And as the conversation progressed all of a sudden I start noticing things instead of stereotyping . . . I started noticing burns on his hand. And I said, 'Where are you working now?’ (Butler replied) ‘I’m at Burger King’. Which incidentally he took a lot of heat from the guys who were still slinging dope out there, because why do you want to work at Burger King when you can sling dope. But he hung in there."
The kicker for Geller was Butler's state at the time the police entered his home. He was hiding under the covers with 11 dollars in his pocket. Added all up, Geller said he didn't believe Butler was dealing drugs any longer, given his circumstances.
According to Butler, Geller is an example for law enforcement. He said that things could have gone the other way, which would have meant prison for the teenager. Instead, he looked past the circumstances and helped the community by giving a good kid another chance:
"And he was clowned for the decision that he made because the police officers were like ‘Why didn’t you convict that kid?’ " Butler said. "And he was like ‘I didn’t think he was guilty and he’s a good person, he’s a good kid.’ And if you have more situations and more officers out there doing that, I think a lot of change will happen."
Butler told For The Win that he's not alone in the NBA. He said he's traded stories with other NBA players about where they came from and their experiences with law enforcement. For Butler, the next step is opening up the dialogue, which he said he hopes will help inspire "a lot of lives."