During a press conference on Thursday, newly-traded Minnesota Timberwolves star Jimmy Butler gave out his phone number to anyone who cared to give him a call.
Unsuspecting people are getting calls meant for Jimmy Butler after he gave out his phone number
Dial carefully!
And people did care — Butler’s voicemail quickly filled up and, as of now, the number appears to be disconnected. It was a great move, the perfect amount of shade towards his critics and a hilarious way to spice up a press conference.
But for one Illinois man, it did have an unintended consequence — Michael Byrne has a phone number just one digit off from Butler’s, and over the course of the day he’s received over 100 voicemails and 150 texts.
“At first I heard my phone going off a bunch. When I checked it, I already had 37 missed calls,” he told NBC 5 Chicago. “I got calls from Arkansas, Florida, New York City, and all over the country. I got voice mails and text messages all saying how much they supported me.”
So while Jimmy Butler spent his day casually taking FaceTime calls while flying on a plane and sipping red wine ...
... other, similarly phone-numbered folks are having their phones blow up. In fact, Byrne isn’t the only person to have this problem — Adonis Dees, an intern at FanRag Sports, has also been receiving texts like these from people who think he is the great Jimmy Buckets.
At least Dees has the time to respond!
Byrne, on the other hand, told NBC 5 Washington he can’t even turn off his phone because he’s waiting to hear back from employers as he looks for a new job. All in all, however, he seems to be in high spirits about the whole thing:
“I would just tell him that his fans need to dial more carefully,” he said.
Definitely good advice.
