The Wizards forward took the first step in battling his addiction by admitting that he has one. And I'd say that "at least six" cans of Mountain Dew per day qualifies as an addiction. He kicked the habit this summer, and lost 11 pounds in the process, which is somewhat confusing as caffeine is supposed to curb the appetite.

Either way, it wasn't easy:

To try and give this up was CRAZY for me! I was going through withdrawals. I was in the bed sweating. My wife would turn over in the bed and ask "Are you OK?" .Honestly, those first two weeks without The Dew was the roughest two weeks of my life. I'm talking headaches, sweats and everything. Before that I drank at least six 12 ounce Mountain Dews a day.

Also, he's increased his hours of sleep per night to: "some."

Un-Doing The Dew [NBA.com]

And now, via this adorable little story at the superb DC Sports Bog yesterday afternoon, comes a report of Caron attending the birthday party of a random 16-year-old kid from the neighborhood. The family sent the birthday boy's kid sister over to Caron's house to invite him to the party, and he showed up, brought a jersey and some shoes, and hung out with high school kids for an afternoon. See Caron talking about it here.

I don't remember my 16th birthday party, but I'm pretty sure Caron Butler wasn't there. But, on the other hand, I don't think it was at home, with Pepsi, cake, and ice cream, either. It was very sweet of Caron to show up, but they could've at least gotten him drunk.

A Caron Butler Surprise [DC Sports Bog]
Caron Butler Surprises Birthday Boy [NBC4]