Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler is a busy man these days.
The leader of the Heat and 35-year-old forward is in the midst of his 14th season. While Butler is one of the older players in the league and the second-oldest member of the Heat roster, you wouldn’t know it based upon watching him play — he’s still playing at a high level even as he enters the final years of his playing career.
“I don’t know how much longer I want to play,” says Butler at the opening of his first brick-and-mortar Bigface location when asked how much longer he wants to play for. “But I know I can still play at a high level for a couple more years. So we’ll see. Only time will tell. See what my babies and kids want to do and we’ll sit down and talk about it.”
Butler has been dealing with a nagging right knee injury this season, but he made his return in a blowout 134-93 win over the Los Angeles Lakers earlier in the week. The six-time All-Star scored 17 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished five assists in the win. The victory moved the Heat to a .500 mark through the first twenty games of the season,
With their win over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, the Heat moved over the .500 mark for the first time since they were 3-2 in early November.
“A win is a win,” says Butler when asked about the recent win over the Lakers. “Don’t care how many points it’s by. Knee is feeling good, but it’s legit day-by-day. I’m glad to be back out there, I miss basketball when I don’t get the opportunity to play. But I have to do what’s best for me and take care of my body and make sure that I’m always ready to play when I step out on that floor.”
While the Heat will always remain a playoff threat as long as head coach Erik Spoelstra and team president Pat Riley are running the show, they don’t appear to be threats to the Eastern Conference’s elite in the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks. It may be early in the season, but Miami has the sixth-best record in the conference and are 8.5 games behind the Cavaliers, the best team in the East.
Although the Heat are less than two years removed from their most recent Finals appearance, they did so as an eighth seed. They were also paced by some heroic efforts by Butler and surprising playoff performances by a rag tag group of unheralded role players, most of whom are no longer members of the Heat.
“It’s hard, but we can do it,” says Butler when asked how the Heat can back to the East’s elite echelon. “So many stars are putting the ball in the basket at an incredible freaking rate. It’s actually crazy to think about it and watch. But it doesn’t scare anybody on this side very much. We know what every team is capable of in the league and we also know what we’re capable of.
Butler continues to stress confidence in the Heat’s potential to compete with the elite of the Eastern Conference. Miami has advanced to two NBA Finals during the Butler era and finished with the East’s best record during the 2021-22 season.
“We are going to take our chances every day, every night, neutral site home or away, we just have to go out there and capitalize and make it happen and not talk too much about it,” says Butler.
Jimmy Butler Talks Opening of First Bigface Store in Miami
The opening of Bigface in Miami’s Design District earlier this week marks Butler’s first physical location for his coffee brand. The company also fashions itself as a lifestyle brand, selling apparel.
The concept of Bigface came about during the COVID-19 pandemic as Butler dabbled in the side business. He began making coffee of his own while charging his teammates $20 as a joke.
He goes into detail why getting into the coffee industry intrigued him so much.
“You get to meet so many different types of people, which is the best part about coffee,” says Butler. “Everybody’s coming in to get a coffee, never know who you’re going to run into. You get to learn about them, you get to find out what you have in common with them that you would never know to bump into them anywhere else.
“That’s where the love of coffee started, but it started through the people,” Butler continues to say. “Now that I have my own shop, I get to see everybody that’s busy, everybody that lives here, everybody that’s leaving here. They’re going to come here — this is their sanctuary.”
Butler details that he plans on opening more physical locations globally as one of the long-term objectives for his brand.
“I got plans for 1000’s of them all over the world,” Butler details. “I want to be able to travel and when I travel, I want to be able to pop in and do coffee my way in my own coffee shop. That is a dream of all dreams. I don’t know if they can all be as big as this one. But the first one you have to go big or go home.”
The VIP party for Bigface — held hours before the official opening for customers — featured appearances from Butler’s teammate Kevin Love, NBA legend Carmelo Anthony and rap record producer DJ Khaled. There were servings available for some of Bigface’s top coffee/alcohol-infused products at the indoor and outdoor bars for guests.
“I want everybody to know what Bigface is about,” says Butler. “When you come in here, everybody’s so loving, everybody’s so nice, everybody’s having a good time, dancing, vibing to the music while you’re getting your coffee.
“The people are understanding, they don’t want to invade your privacy,” Butler says. “We take that everywhere. You don’t know who you’re going to run into, how that person’s day is going. Ask, find out, become friends and take your kids to play at the park together.”
