New Minnesota Timberwolves star Jimmy Butler gave out his phone number at a press conference, for some reason, and now lots of people are texting and calling him.
Unfortunately, lots of people are also calling someone with a number similar to Butler’s.
Michael Byrne, of Evanston, Illinois, told NBC Chicago that his phone has been inundated with calls and texts because his number is one digit off of Butler’s.
“At first I heard my phone going off a bunch. When I checked it, I already had 37 missed calls,” he says. “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.”
In all, Byrne says he has received at least 100 voicemails and over 150 text messages since Butler shared his phone number with fans.
“That’s the strange part. They’re calling the wrong number,” he says. “None of the calls or messages have been mean or harassing, but I can’t even use my phone.”
I lived in Evanston for four years, and I can confirm that it’s not much of a sports town—the Saturday farmer’s market is hopping, even with Big Ten football happening a couple miles away—so unsurprisingly, Byrne was very confused by all of this.
He says getting calls intended for Butler is an odd experience, but what makes it even stranger is that he really didn’t know who the former Bulls star was before his phone started ringing off the hook.
“I don’t follow sports, so I didn’t know who Jimmy Butler was,” Byrne says. “I had to Google his name, and then I saw that he had shared his number.”
He also tried to get through to Butler, like many fans, with no avail.
Byrne did try to call the number that Butler provided to fans, but was unable to get through.
“I would just tell him that his fans need to dial more carefully,” he said with a laugh.
Just make sure you’re dialing the right number, folks.
