Jimmy Butler may be the face of the Miami Heat right now, but he's well aware that Tyler Herro is the face of the franchise in the near future. Although Butler has led the Heat to two NBA Finals appearances since his arrival in Miami five years ago, Herro is emerging as the leading scorer of the team. The 24-year-old is averaging a team-leading 23.8 points per game and is one of just two Heat players to play in all 21 games this season.
“Tyler's always been able to put the ball in the basket, even since his corny YouTube video days,” says Butler during a one-on-one interview at the opening of his first BigFace location in Miami. “He's confident, man. You can see it. He works on his game, shows it a little bit on social. But I actually get to see it in person.”
The 35-year-old Butler is likely entering the final years of his NBA career, acknowledging he can still play at a high level for another “couple years.” He says Herro will probably be in Miami for another decade, which would mean he would be passing the torch to the young shooting guard.
“We need him, we want him to keep playing like that and he's going to be here for a very long time,” says Butler of Herro. “Probably much longer than me, because at what age I am. He's probably got another 10 years here. So it's good for him.”
Herro has been a 20-point per game scorer over the past four seasons, but he's averaging a career-high mark in points per game this season. Furthermore, his efficiency is at a career best, converting on 47.5% of his field goal attempts and 41.6% of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, Butler has taken a back seat as a scorer, averaging 19.1 points per game. That would mark his lowest scoring average as a member of the Heat and his lowest since the 2013-14 season with the Chicago Bulls.
Although the Heat are less than two years removed from their last NBA Finals appearance, they appear a long way from getting back to that level again. Miami remains a respectable playoff contender, having defeated the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns in their past two games. Those games just so happened to mark Butler's return from a knee injury.
However, they're still just 11-10 and in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. They don't appear to have a legitimate chance at knocking off one of the elite teams in the East in the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks.
Despite the uphill odds, Butler's objective this season remains to win a championship. In fact, he calls it a “championship-or-bust” season.
“Same as it always is,” says Butler when asked what his objective is for this season. “I don't think anybody's going to say they want to lose or not win a championship. Championship or bust, always.”
Jimmy Butler Opens First BigFace Location in Miami
While the veteran forward is obviously concentrated on leading the Heat back into title contention, he's keeping busy with the growth of his BigFace coffee brand. After starting out the business as a side venture during the COVID-19 pandemic, Butler has now opened his first brick-and-mortar location, with plans of opening more globally.
“I just love coffee, man,” says Butler when asked why he got into the coffee business. “I want everybody here to have a cappuccino, sit down, let it be maximum capacity and have a good time. As you can see right here, we got a new line coming out very soon, so I'm excited about everything.”
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Jimmy Butler's BigFace location
The interior of Jimmy Butler's first BigFace location in Miami.
Butler acknowledges that he's a “basic” guy when it comes to coffee, saying he likes an “old latte” or the “ReadyBev” product from his menu.
“My favorite coffee product, I would say the ReadyBev,” says Butler. “But I just like the original old latte and the cinnamon vanilla. But for me, just the basic — give me the old latte.”
When asked how much longer he wants to play for, Butler didn't give a concrete answer. However, he did acknowledge that “coffee” and “travel” are going to be some of the top things on his to-do list during his post-playing career.
“Coffee is definitely going to be one of them,” says Butler of his post-career plans. “A lot of travel probably.”