Caron Butler recalls what it was like being a drug dealer at the age of 12: “I was easily making $3000-4000 a week at 12”

Caron Butler put together a strong career in the NBA. He was a two-time All-Star who won a title in 2011 with the Dallas Mavericks. But for a point in his youth, it didn’t seem like he was going to have an opportunity to make it to the league.

As a child, Butler constantly found himself getting in trouble, mainly because he ended up becoming a drug dealer at just 12 years old. And yet, the former All-Star recalled how he was making upwards of $4000 a week before he was even a teenager off of his drug dealing exploits.

Butler sheds light on being a drug dealer at just 12 years old

Butler grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, and was exposed to inner-city life at a young age. He quickly realized that he could make quite a bit of money as a drug dealer, which led to him getting involved at an extremely young age.

This led to “Tuff Juice” getting arrested 15 times before he was even 15 years old, but that wasn’t enough to stop him from what he was doing. That’s because he was bringing thousands of dollars a week before he even was in high school.

“ One of my uncle’s homies gave me some shake down, some stuff that they bagged up and was just like the crumbs of what they had left,” Caron Butler said on The OGs . “ It was about a half ounce of drugs that was the shake-up, and I went to the street, and I came back, and I’ll just never forget the feeling of going out there and selling it, knowing that I wasn’t supposed to be out there doing it at the age of eleven-and-a-half, 12.”

“I’m out there at two, three in the morning, my mom working third shift so nobody was looking for me. I was just going back to the alley, going back to the garage, going back to the alley, going back to the garage, catching serves…I made about $800 that night…I was easily making $3000-4000 a week at 12,” Butler added.

Caron Butler eventually found his way

Many NBA players were tempted to follow a similar inner-city lifestyle but ended up finding their way to the game instead. For much of his youth, that didn’t seem possible for Butler.

Drug dealing isn’t exactly something you typically want a 12-year-old doing, but Butler was rolling in money as a result of his hustle. Sure, he was getting arrested, but if the money kept on coming in, what reason was there for him to stop?

Eventually, basketball became the reason for him. Butler fell in love with the game while at a youth detention center, and he quickly turned himself into one of the most sought-after prospects in the nation. This led to him being drafted tenth overall in the 2002 NBA Draft.

It was a pretty shocking turnaround considering the path Butler was on, and he’s surely thankful he managed to escape his former life. Plus, as an NBA star, he ended up making way more than $4000 a week, so it’s clear basketball was a worthwhile pursuit for several reasons.

Related: Caron Butler on how playing basketball in prison made him realize he's talented: "I didn't know I was nice until I got locked up"