Mark Wahlberg has had his hand in a number of sports series and movies including the “The Fighter," "Ballers," and “Invincible," but now the Hollywood star will use his talents to produce a movie about the life of two-time NBA All-Star Caron Butler.
Wahlberg became enamored with Butler's story after the 14-year NBA veteran released his autobiography "Tuff Juice," which details Butler's journey from a drug-dealing childhood to the NBA. Butler writes that he was a drug dealer by age 11 and arrested 15 times before the age of 15.
The two were rumored to be creating a movie adaptation of the memoir since September, but just recently Butler agreed to hand over the movie rights to Wahlberg.
"I’m excited to take the next step towards sharing my story with an even larger audience and it’s a blessing to have someone as well-known and respected as Mark Wahlberg by my side," Butler said, via TMZ.com.
"I wanted to tell my story because I’m living proof that it is possible to overcome adversity and make a better life for yourself and your family. The response from the book was overwhelming and when someone like Mark Wahlberg tells you that your life could be a movie, you listen."
Butler hopes Michael B. Jordan can play his role in the movie, saying, "I think he would do a great job sharing my story."
It will be interesting to see if/how Wahlberg reenacts a part of Butler's book detailing the Gilbert Arenas gun incident that imploded the Wizards franchise in 2009.
According to the autobiography, the situation began when Arenas, teammate Javaris Crittenton and several other players bet on a card game on a flight home from Phoenix. Arenas refused to pay Crittenton $1,100, which resulted in a near-physical scuffle and escalated into threats and guns in the locker room.