<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">LOS ANGELES ? Mother's Day is Sunday, and Los Angeles Lakers forward Caron Butler still hasn't figured out what to get his mom, Mattie Paden. It's not that Paden is difficult to buy for -- she's not. Her son simply wants to give her the world on Mother's Day and the remaining 364 days in the year. "I don't know yet. Whatever's nice I see out there at the time, or whatever her want or need is at the time, I'm going to grab for her," said Butler, who already bought his mother a house. "I'll do anything for my mother. Whatever she wants or needs, I'm going to get it, definitely." Butler's devotion is understandable, particularly because his mother's devotion to him never wavered, even through some tough times during his formative years. Before Butler was an NBA player rolling with the Benjamins to burn, he was a troubled teen growing up in Racine, Wis. While Paden, a single mother, worked two jobs in local factories to provide for her two sons, Butler became a statistic. By age 14, he was selling drugs and carrying a gun that he purchased from "some brother off the street." It might seem improbable that a teen growing up in America's heartland would engage in this sort of illegal activity, but don't be fooled. As Butler says, "There's a hood everywhere." After a series of arrests and appearances in juvenile court, Butler was arrested at his high school for carrying a gun and a small packet of cocaine. The troubled teen found himself facing jail. He was sentenced and served three months in county lockdown and an additional 15 months at a maximum-security juvenile facility in Wales, Wis.</div> Source
I never used to really like caron when he came from uconn, something about him rubbed me the wrong way. But his last year and miami and the transition to the purple n gold i did some research on him and realized this kid had alot of upswing and he was far from an AHOLE. When i went to the lakers/wizards game here in dc a couple months back, i was sitting near the wizards entrence and caron was signing autographs for all the kids in front of us, smiled and took pictures. Real solid dude.
Yep. That, coupled with the way i see Kobe and Caron connecting on and off the court, i believe we should try and keep caron if we can help it. I love his game tremendously. In my opinion, these are my veiws on carons pro's and con's. Good - He's young with a strong build. He's explosive when attacking the rim. He has shown flashes of being able to be very solid Defender(many clutch steals) He is dangerous on the baseline, and very good from just inside the arc. He can pull down a good amount of Rebounds, and hes a great finisher. Negatives - He's young. He trys to dunk on people, palming the ball and exposing it much too early instead of drawing the foul with a layup. He slacks on defense alot and can get wreckless. He's more of a confidence player, can go on hot streaks, but mostly needs an early start to stay effective throughout. Has been somewhat injury prone in his young career. All in all, there are many more pro's and cons then that...but those are some that grab my attention. I like caron alot and hes easily my 2nd favorite laker (Kobe,Caron,Medi,Lamar,Vlade) and id like to see him stay in the Purple n Gold.
i remember seeing him in the Jay Leno Show. he talked about the time he spent in prison. he seemed pretty nice and i think it was amazing how he had changed. its amazing, what a second chance in life can do to you.
