Mario Butler

Mario Alberto Butler Graham (born January 15, 1957) is a Panamanian retired professional basketball player.

Butler quickly became famous around his neighborhood for his abilities, and he eventually earned a scholarship to an American university and a spot on the Panama national basketball team.

He studied at Briar Cliff College in Sioux City, Iowa, where he befriended another Panamanian and future basketball legend in Puerto Rico, Rolando Frazer.

He played in 102 games during his career, scoring 815 points and totaling 664 rebounds, which ranked 14th and seventh all-time, respectively, at the time of his graduation.

During that era, games were shown on Puerto Rico's national television almost daily (on weekends, twice a day) by WAPA-TV, helping Butler, Frazer, Mario Morales, Georgie Torres, Jerome Mincy and a number of other BSN players to become household names there.

In 1983, the Titans almost won the BSN's title, losing to Morales, Fico Lopez and the Guaynabo Mets during a seven-game semi-final series.

After many other seasons with the Titans, Butler joined the Santurce Crabbers, where he played alongside José Ortiz and Carlos Arroyo, among others.

He played as a professional in Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the United States (though not in the NBA) and Venezuela.