Miami Heat forward Caleb Martin was geeked up to be facing his twin brother, Cody, for the first time in a regular-season game on February 5. The two have been literally inseparable since birth, including on the basketball court.
They grew up playing pick-up hoops in the driveway before becoming college teammates at North Carolina State and Nevada. The Martin brothers took the floor together as professionals for the Charlotte Hornets, too. That experiment only lasted four games. Needless to say, their bond runs tight.
So when the siblings suited up as enemies — Caleb for the Heat; Cody for the Hornets — there was considerable buzz around the matchup. And Jimmy Butler couldn’t turn down the opportunity to throw shade at them. The Heat All-Star super-imposed Caleb’s face on his body in an image from the game where Cody was guarding Butler.
He captioned an Instagram post: “always feel the love at the crib. what a blessing for me and my brothers to share the court with one another! first triplets in the league to do it!”
Hilarity ensued on social media. Udonis Haslem and Quentin Richardson were quick to respond with laughing emojis. Ditto for Caleb who wrote: “Big Triplets.”
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Caleb Records Eight Points, Swipes Cody
The Martin brothers went head-to-head on a few possessions, including one where Caleb recorded a steal on Cody and streaked down the other end for two points. It was eerily reminiscent of their backyard battles growing up in Davie County, North Carolina.
“He was hot. He was mad I got the steal,” Caleb said, via the Heat website. “It was fun, man, just being able to play. It was weird. Took a little minute to get adjusted to it, but it was good. Fun game.”
Interestingly, both players finished with eight points. Caleb went 4-of-10 from the field in 24 minutes, while Cody went 3-of-7 in 32 minutes.
“He always wanna be like me,” Caleb joked.
This wasn’t the first time the two squared off in a professional game. The Heat beat the Hornets 104-103 on October 11, 2021, in a preseason game. But this one was way more important since it counted in the standings. Miami won 104-86.
“We got a win so I’m good. It was fun. Just being back [in North Carolina], it brought back a lot of good memories, just being back where it all started off,” Caleb said on February 5. “And just getting to compete against my brother, that’s always fun. Obviously getting a win and being able to brag about it. That was the most important thing to me.”
Butler Joins NFT Crypto Crowd
Butler is joining a growing celebrity crowd and investing in crypto currency. He posted a message about educating yourself about NFTs (non-fungible tokens) while teasing a virtual event hosted by Binance on February 13. Go to CryptoCelebAlert.com to learn more.
Butler said: “People always ask me what to do with their money I can give you advice on a lot of things, your money isn’t one of them. On February the 13th some of the biggest names are going to be telling you to get into crypto. Binance and I are here to tell you: trust yourself and do your own research.”
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Heat Star Jimmy Butler Pokes Fun at NBA’s Newest ‘Triplets’