Former Sacramento Kings player Caron Butler’s book Tuff Juice: My Journey from the Streets to the NBA was intended to provide proof that it’s “possible to overcome adversity and make a better life for yourself and your family.” But for him, it’s unimaginable that his story got this big.
Back in March, Mark Wahlberg bought the rights to Butler’s story and will be turning it into a big screen production. Butler expressed that he’d think Creed frontman Michael B. Jordan would “do a great job sharing [his] story.” And once prompted by TMZ, Michael B. Jordan doesn’t quite say yes, but he definitely doesn’t say no either.
In addition to the talented Jordan as the possible lead, this story may shed a much-needed positive light on law enforcement and its relations to the African-American community. Unlike much of the unfortunate and fatal events that are displayed in the news between African-Americans and police officers, Butler’s story offers a new opposing narrative: a second chance facilitated by the usual antagonist.
In Tuff Juice, Rick Geller was one of the officers raiding Butler’s then-home. He admits that by realizing Butler had a drug-dealing past, including a year spent in corrections, he felt this would be an “open-and-shut” case. However, once Geller observed and conversed with Butler more, he realized his transition into a better life was sincere and granted him a break. And from that moment, the rest is history recorded in Tuff Juice, the book and soon-to-be movie.
We can’t wait to see what becomes of this project.