The Miami Heat may have come up short against the Lakers in the NBA Finals, but they have plenty of positives to take away from that experience, not the least of which is the knowledge that it would’ve been a much more competitive series had they not been railroaded by injuries at the worst possible time.
We learned a lot about the team from their time in the Bubble, for example, that Meyers Leonard is quite adept at shotgunning beers and that Jimmy Butler had embarked on a new business venture. Leonard has been able to parlay that latent talent into a sponsorship with Coors, while it’s unclear exactly where Butler is in terms of getting his fledgling coffee business off the ground.
The steep asking price might have been one hurdle. Butler’s signature brew was going for $20 bucks a cup inside the Bubble, although that particular markup likely was adjusted for his highly-affluent clientele. Leonard was adamant that Big Face Coffee makes a tasty cup, but more importantly, he wanted to use his appearance on Yahoo Sports‘ “The Rush“ to push back against the perception that Butler is a bad teammate.
“The thing about Jimmy is, first of all, he obviously completely destroyed any and all narratives about him being an a**hole and a bad teammate,” Leonard said. “I’ve been in the league eight years. That’s a good dude right there, and a good teammate, by the way, like, really cares about people. J.B.’s coffee is good, man. Anything that he’s going to put his name behind, he’s gonna take and do with immense pride.”
Leonard is right about one thing. The Heat’s Finals run was vindication for Butler, who’s earned a reputation for rubbing teammates and other people behind the scenes the wrong way. Whether the coffee is any good remains to be seen. Butler filed for a trademark for his brand back in September, so be on the lookout for the next big coffee craze in the coming months.
