What started off as a playful exchange of selling cups of coffee for $20 has led to Jimmy Butler pursuing his passion to launch a coffee brand of his own in an industry valued at $465.9 billion in 2020, according to the Global Coffee Market.

As the National Basketball Association (NBA) headed to the bubble in Orlando, FL in 2020, Butler was disappointed at the lack of coffee options available. Looking to resolve his coffee cravings, Butler crafted his own “Big Face Coffee.”

So apparently Jimmy Butler wasn't kidding about the up-charge for the use of his French Press at Disney. (From Meyers Leonard's Twitter): pic.twitter.com/1s1em6flRG

— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) August 15, 2020

“The reasoning behind [the name Big Face Coffee] was when we first got into the Bubble during the pandemic, I remember opening up our per diem and it was like $2,080 in there. Basically 20 $100 bills and four $20 bills,” Jimmy Butler told People.

He continued: “So I’m thinking, okay, if I charge $20 for a cup, all I got to do is get somebody for a good cup of coffee. You’re going to run out of $20 and they’re going to come back with these $100 bills, a.k.a big faces. Whenever they hand me the hundred, I’m going to be like, ‘Whoops, sorry. I don’t have change. Thank you for paying a hundred dollars for a cup of coffee.’ Never really worked that way but the idea was genius.”

Immediately following the season, the Miami Heat player made big moves filing a trademark for Big Face. Keeping his foot on the gas, on Oct. 1, he announced a partnership with e-commerce company Shopify to amplify his coffee brand. Through the partnership, Butler will have a unique opportunity to partake in Shopify’s creator program, which allows entrepreneurial athletes to retain all profits by not withholding fees or equity stakes.

In addition, Butler will also release a personalized non-fungible token (NFT) box for $250. The box will reportedly feature “two coffee blends — sourced from Guatemala, Brazil, Honduras and El Salvador — along with an NFT that explains the coffee’s origin, class, score, region, variety, process, farm and flavor notes.”

The NBA star who has made over $144 million throughout his career reveals after he retires from the game he can be found at his Big Face shop connecting with coffee lovers.

“When Jimmy Butler the basketball player is done, I guarantee that when you Google search Big Face Coffee shop, and you find one, especially if it’s in Miami or San Diego, I’ll probably end up in there working perfecting my latte art,” Jimmy Butler said, according to People. “That’s where I’ll be to show people that this isn’t a game for me. I really, really, really enjoy drinking coffee.”

Bigface

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