Guided by Butler, Miami not only made the playoffs, but as the No.8 seeds, they muscled their way past the Hawks and the New York Knicks, before halting a Boston Celtics comeback to clinch the Eastern Conference final series 4-3 on Monday night and book an NBA Finals showdown with the Denver Nuggets.
In her pre-Roland-Garros press conference on Friday, Gauff, who is a big Miami Heat fan, told reporters in Paris she had a Jimmy Butler story but she won't tell it until Miami reached the Finals.
Following her three-set first-round victory over Rebeka Masarova on Tuesday, the 19-year-old American finally shared the story.
"This was before the Heat were in the playoffs, he offered me tickets to see the last home game of the season," said Gauff, referring to Butler, who is a massive tennis fan.
"Then he DM'd me a couple weeks later, asking if I wanted more tickets to see the postseason. I said, 'I won't be here. I'll be in Madrid and then Rome and then France'.