Local Coffee Company Owner Enjoys Sports League Success

Coffee is the center of everyone's universe, sure, but some coffee people have hobbies and interests that might surprise you.

Take for instance, Jimmy Butler, the founder of Big Face Coffee, a popular specialty coffee brand. But you might not know that when he's not busy with Big Face, Butler is actually quite adept as a sportsman as well, particularly in the game of basketball.

Big Face's Butler is so good in fact, that he is plays on a professional basketball team known as the Miami Heat Exchange (Heat for short), and they are in the running to win their entire league!

Jimmy Butler, who also goes by Jimmy Buckets—which is not an allusion to a cold brew bucket, but rather, a basketball reference—was just awarded the Most Valuable Player award for the Eastern Conference Finals, averaging 24.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 2.6 steals per game, which led the team in every category except for rebounds.

But much like winning the US Barista Championship, there is still one more step to winning it all, and for professional basketball that is the NBA Finals, where Butler and his Miami Heat teammates currently find themselves. And it is going to be a steep uphill battle as they take on the Denver Nuggets, so named for the Pike's Peak Gold Rush and not Colorado's legalized marijuana. The Nuggets are anchored by a giant of a man, the near-7-footer Nikola Jokić. The Serbia-born professional basketballer also won a Conference Finals MVP this year and has previously earned two league MVP awards. His coffee preferences are unknown.

Hopefully the team at Big Face can continue to hold down the fort as they have for over a month now with their fearless leader away playing in a basketball tournament, because Butler will now spend the next one to two weeks playing a best-of-seven series to decide the winner. Think of it like a latte art throwdown where the winner is the first person to outpour their opponent in four rounds.

We here at Sprudge would like to wish Big Face Coffee's Jimmy Butler all the luck in the world as he chases down a basketball trophy. We’re rooting for you, Jimmy. And even if it doesn't work out, at least you didn't have to quit your day job. The coffee world is thrilled to have you no matter what happens in your free time.

Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.