With the NBA Finals between Dallas and Boston scheduled to begin in a couple of days, fans across the nation are excited to witness the thrilling encounter and crown the new Champion. Even tennis prodigy Coco Gauff and a dear friend of Jimmy Butler, who is competing at the ongoing French Open, has agreed to stay tuned in. However, Gauff will follow the Finals only to support one superstar who she loves watching, Kyrie Irving!

After her comeback win over Ons Jabeur to advance into the semi-final of the French Open, Coco was asked about the NBA team she would be rooting for. Initially taken aback by the question, Gauff revealed her pick, saying, “I think I’m gonna go for the Mavericks because I like Kyrie Irving a lot. I met him couple of years ago. So yeah, I’m not 100% for one team”. That’s because her hometown team is no longer in the competition!

“I’m a Heat fan and we lost in the first round, but maybe next season,” Gauff said in the official presser. Unlike last year, Jimmy Butler and Co. failed to make it to the finals this season, mainly because JB was out of action due to an injury. Spraining his MCL during the play-in tournament, Butler missed the entire first-round series against Boston.

Maybe, if he was healthy and available, Miami could have upset the top-seeded team against all odds, just like they did last year. And then, Gauff would probably have had more reason to be invested, even though she is busy pursuing another major title in France.

Jimmy Butler and Coco Gauff go way back!

Born in Florida, Coco has always been a hardcore Miami Heat supporter. When Jimmy Butler moved to South Beach, it didn’t take much time for the two stars to admire each other’s talent. Just last year, when Coco was on her way to winning the US Open, JB came to the arena to support her and even revealed his fandom for the prodigy, “I want her to win every single time, nothing against anybody else.”

Even Coco has been a huge admirer of Jimmy’s on-court skills for a long time. In an interview with ‘Tennis Channel’ last April, she revealed her thoughts about the Heat star and defended him when people claimed that ‘Playoff Jimmy’ was a myth. “I think he is just underrated… Nah, Playoff Jimmy is a legend, it’s not a myth.” Then, further giving Butler his flowers, Coco said, “I wish I can be as clutch as Jimmy Buckets one day,” she concluded.

And in a story that Coco revealed during her last French Open tour, she told the world that Jimmy offered her tickets to the NBA Finals last year, while the Heat was still competing in the play-in tournament! “OK, when we make the Finals, let me know if your family wants some tickets,” Butler told her.

That’s when Gauff claimed she knew Miami was going to the Finals because of Jimmy’s confidence. With this level of mutual respect between the two stars, the world is surely waiting for the two to share more wholesome moments in the future.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow in what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.