Caron Butler: ‘I Can Play With No Hands’

Caron Butler, fractured left hand and all, added to the legend of “Tuff Juice” by suiting up for the Clippers in their Game 3 victory over the Grizzlies. Butler refuses to be denied. From the OC Register: “While Caron Butler was grinding through injuries for the Washington Wizards, his teammates started calling him ‘tuff juice.’ Butler took the nickname, made it his Twitter handle (@realtuffjuice), and Saturday, he showed the Clippers why. ‘I’ve got to live up to it,’ Butler said. […] ‘It’s not going to get any more broken,’ he said. ‘…I’m not going to be denied.’ Butler scored four points in 23 minutes, but he provided an inspirational lift to his teammates and did a good job trying to slow Memphis’ top scorer, Rudy Gay. ‘We need Caron out there, a big guard who’s been in the league and been around,’ Nick Young said. ‘And that’s somebody who can give Rudy Gay some problems.’ Butler said he has no problems with making Gay his top priority in Game 4 Monday and beyond. ‘The role that I’m playing right now, what I’m doing, I can play with no hands,’ Butler said. ‘It’s not a big deal. I can play.’ Butler admitted his broken hand was in considerable pain throughout the game Saturday, but after missing Dallas’ title run last postseason due to a knee injury, he wasn’t going to sit another one out. ‘Once it happened, I was like here we go again,’ he said. ‘But there wasn’t no way they were going to be able to keep me off the court.’ And after watching the Clippers lose in Game 2, Butler’s mind was made up. ‘I was like, ‘I got to get back out there,’ he said. ‘…My main assignment is to be as efficient and the best I can be on defense, and from an offensive standpoint, whatever I can give will be a huge plus.'”