Credit: Twitter
Miami Heat almost choked their playoff series as the Boston Celtics came back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the series 3-3. Fortunately, the Heat won the seventh game comfortably to enter the NBA 2022-23 finals where they will face Nikola Jokic-led Denver Nuggets. American tennis star Coco Gauff recently revealed that Jimmy Butler offered her the NBA finals tickets back in April and the Heat forward's confident about reaching the finals.
The Heat had lost against the Atlanta Hawks and they were yet to confirm their place in the playoffs but Miami star Jimmy Buttler was certain to reach the 2023 NBA Finals. Butler even offered Coco Gauff tickets to the finals and this winning mentality of Butler impressed the 19-year-old tennis star.
The sixth-seeded tennis star told the story in the press conference after her first-round victory at the French Open, "This was before the Heat were in the playoffs, he (Buttler) offered me tickets to see the last home game of the season. Then he DM'd me a couple of weeks later, asking if I wanted more tickets to see the postseason." The tennis star replied that she won’t be available as she has tournaments in Europe during that time.
Butler then offered Gauff and her family tickets to the NBA finals as the tennis sensation is a big Miami Heat fan. She then expressed her admiration for Butler’s confidence as she said, "Everybody is like we have a 3% chance of making the Finals, but when he sent me that, I knew we were making the Finals because he didn't say 'if we make the finals', he said 'when we make the finals."
The 19-year-old added, "He pretty much said we were going to the Finals before we even qualified for the playoffs, and I just really like that mentality of him."
Gauff is in action at the French Open and she won the first round against Rebeka Masarova 3-6,6-1,6-2. She will now face Julia Graber in the second round on Thursday, June 1. On the other hand, Jimmy Buttler and Miami Heat will be now in action in the NBA finals against the Denver Nuggets with Game 1 slated on Friday, June 1.