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Dubai: NBA Star Jimmy Butler launches Big Face Coffee
When NBA superstar Jimmy Butler walks into a room, all eyes are instantly drawn to him. Standing at 6’7” with an imposing physical presence, Butler has built a reputation as one of basketball’s fiercest competitors.
But these days, the 35-year-old is looking to make his mark off the court as well, with the launch of his new specialty coffee brand, Big Face, in Dubai. Butler came up with the coffee brand during Covid when players were kept in a safe environment called ‘The NBA Bubble’ so they could continue to play games.
He decided to start making his own coffee blend for his teammates and selling it for $100 (Dh367) a cup. “The whole goal was to hustle everybody out of $100 for one cup of coffee,” says Butler with a mischievous grin, explaining the origins of the Big Face name. “Where I’m from in the hood, we call the $100 bill a ‘big face,’ so I figured, why not make that the name of my coffee shop?”
It’s a quintessentially Jimmy Butler idea — equal parts ambition, hustle, and tongue-in-cheek humour. But for the six-time NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medallist, Big Face represents something much deeper than just a catchy brand name. It’s a way for him to give back to the coffee community that has become a passion of his in recent years.
That community-focused ethos is evident in his vision for Big Face Coffee. Rather than creating an exclusive, members-only coffee shop for the rich and famous, he wants it to be a welcoming space where people from all walks of life can come together over a shared love of great coffee.
“I was like, let’s just do it for coffee and make it a rule — when you go in, you just sit down and learn. You don’t know how that person’s day is going. You don’t know if they’re going through something. So just go say hello and learn about them.”
It’s a refreshingly down-to-earth approach, one that reflects Jimmy’s own humble beginnings. Growing up with little means he knows firsthand the transformative power of a helping hand. He was kicked out of home at 13 and spent the rest of his youth living with various friends. “The way I grew up, I had a whole lot of nothing. So I know what it’s like to have nothing. So I think it’s very important to be able to give back and help people, because I have had people help me along the way too,” he tells me at the Big Face launch party, jointly hosted by WHOOP.
That spirit of giving back extends to the coffee supply chain as well. Butler is committed to working directly with coffee farmers and ensuring they are properly compensated for their labour.
“I always want to try to give back to the coffee farmers, because they’ve been doing this for decades and years and generations, and it’s not where it needs to be. And so that’s where Big Face is going to come in and really change it for everybody.”
The Dubai coffee shop, inside Delano hotel on Bluewaters Island, is the brand’s second outlet, building on the original Miami concept. But why Dubai? “Everybody wants to come to this market. Everybody wants to be a part of this culture. Why would you not want to be a part of it? The people are just so nice, they’re always willing to make you feel comfortable.”
Butler recently joined the Golden State Warriors from Miami Heat and took time out from his hectic schedule to take a 16-hour flight to visit the city. “I found that here in Dubai, the coffee culture is huge, as it is in the rest of the Middle East. I love to see all the different types of people that you can just sit down and talk to, they’re smiling; everybody, from all over the world from so many different countries and cities”.
Butler’s love of coffee has taken him all over the world, including the coffee-producing regions of South America. The goal is to ensure growers are compensated fairly for their high-quality beans, while also providing consumers with a superior product.
“The conventional coffee industry is kind of broken,” he says. “Farmers are often exploited and don’t receive a living wage. I wanted to flip that model on its head and show that you can run a successful coffee business while also doing right by the people who grow the beans.”
Talking about what drives him in sport, and now as an entrepreneur, Butler takes a sip of coffee (he averages 12 cups a day) and then slowly explains, “I think it comes from the beginning of having nothing. I’ve always been scared of going back to my old self, of not having anything, of having to grind day in and day out.” That grind is now being applied to the world of coffee. We’ll drink to that.
