‘We’re going to the finals!’ Coco Gauff on Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler joy

Coco Gauff might be in Europe but she’s following all the action from Miami

Coco Gauff of the U.S. celebrates after winning her first round match against Spain’s Rebeka Masarova (AI/Reuters/Panoramic)

Carrie Dunn

May 30, 2023

Coco Gauff has spoken about her delight at Miami Heat making the NBA Finals – although she didn’t get to watch their 103-84 win over the Boston Celtics herself.

“I did not watch, 2:30 a.m. is a tough time zone, especially playing the next day. First thing I did this morning was look at the results. Very relieved. I kind of held my breath.”

She then came through her own tough test, beating Rebeka Masarova 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

And she revealed to journalists that star forward Jimmy Butler had offered her tickets for the finals even before they had qualified for the play-offs.

Gauff met Butler at this year’s Miami Open (Zuma/Panoramic)

“He offered me tickets to see the last home game of the season. Then he DMed me a couple weeks later, asking if I wanted more tickets to see the post-season. I said, ‘I won’t be here. I’ll be in Madrid and then Rome and then France.’

“And then he said, ‘Okay, when we make the finals, let me know if your family wants some tickets.’

“So this was before we were even in the play-offs. This is before we lost to the Hawks for the first play-in game. I just felt like I knew that – 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.’ Now that we are in the finals I can say that story.

“But I remember screenshotting it and sending it to my family and I was, like, ‘Oh, we’re going, we’re going to the finals!'”