Jimmy Butler: friend of Neymar, NBA star owns café – 06/11/2023 – Café na Prensa

Jimmy Butler, the main player for the Miami Heat, which plays in the NBA finals, the North American basketball league, has a passion greater than sport: coffee.

“Coffee is everything, man,” Butler said in an interview with The Athletic in April this year. “Coffee. My friends. My family,” said the player, who is a friend of Neymar and loves football and Brazil.

He takes the subject so seriously that he decided to create his own brand. Bigface buys beans from producers in countries like Ethiopia, Kenya and Colombia, roasts them and sells them in 250 g packages for prices ranging from US$30 to US$40 (approximately R$150 to R$200 at current prices).

The idea of ​​creating one’s own cafe came up in 2020, in the NBA’s “bubble”. When the Covid-19 pandemic began, the 2019-2020 season was in full swing.

Faced with the restrictions imposed by the health authorities, the basketball league decided to isolate the teams at a Disney resort in Orlando to proceed with the championship.

Players could not leave the venue. For Butler, who drinks eight cups a day, all of this had an aggravating factor: the coffee options available in the bubble did not meet his quality standards. He then decided to install an espresso machine inside the bedroom.

In addition to consuming his own coffee –made with beans from El Salvador–, he served the other players. Butler took advantage of the high purchasing power of his clientele and charged 20 dollars per cup (approximately R$ 100, at current prices).

What started out as a joke, however, soon turned into something serious. “Since the bubble [da NBA] started, I wanted to be the best barista [especialista no preparo de café]”, Butler told CNBC.

“Now Bigface coffee is a real thing, and I’m just trying to bring the best coffee and the best experience to the world,” he said.

The brand officially launched in October 2021. The coffees can be purchased from the Big Face Brand website, which ships internationally. In addition to grains, the e-commerce site sells mugs, thermals and even clothing, such as T-shirts, hoodies and pants.

The grains come in a stylish package, which earned the company, this week, third place in a packaging design award.

On the court, however, Butler has a big challenge in the NBA Finals. The Miami Heat are trailing the Denver Nuggets 3 games to 1 – the champion is decided in a best-of-7 game.

This means that, this Monday (12), Butler has no choice but to win. If he loses, he kisses the title goodbye. If he wins, he still has to beat the Denver Nuggets in the remaining games – a 3-1 comeback has only happened once in NBA Finals history.

Thus, the Heat need a sequence of matches with a great defensive system, capable of neutralizing the Serbian star Nikola Jokić. And Butler will have to deliver impeccable performances, with his typical offensive aggressiveness. Have coffee.

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