Wine in hand, Butler tried to answer his own question by talking about his ambitions and, more insightfully, all the things he loves.
First and foremost, Jimmy Butler loves his daughter. He can’t get enough of her. She’s taught him that unconditional love does exist, even if she sometimes slaps him in the face in the morning. Being away from her in the bubble was difficult, and he’s making up for lost time and wants to be the best role model he can be for her. “I got to make sure that women are on the same level as men now, because that’s what I’m going to teach her,” he said. “Anything a man can do, you can do. With my blood running through your veins, we’re not intimidated by anybody, no matter what color their skin is, if they’re male, female, how tall they are, how fast. We don’t care. You’re going to be the best.”
Jimmy Butler loves being from Texas. Though people often think that he’s from Houston, he’s quick to correct them and say that he’s from the suburb of Tomball, and proud of it. He considers himself a country boy—the boots in that commercial weren’t just for show.
Which brings us to another thing Jimmy Butler loves: “I love country music, man,” Butler said. “I love the individuals that are singing the music, how family-oriented they are.” He told me to check out the latest album from his favorite new country artist, Filmore.
Jimmy Butler also clearly loves wine. He prefers red, and I assumed that it was Dwyane Wade, another famous wine drinker, who introduced him to it, but he said that it was actually Wahlberg who handed him his first glass. “It was on September 13 of 2013,” Butler recalled. “I know this date because it was the day before my birthday and I was in Chicago.” Wahlberg was there, filming a Transformers sequel, and had invited Butler to the set. At that point, said Butler, “I ain’t never had wine before.”
He admitted that in college he drank only hard liquor. I was surprised, but his unfamiliarity with wine was understandable. I was the same way. We both associated wine with a different lifestyle and with rich people who didn’t grow up in the same socioeconomic environment that we did.
“[Mark] was like, ‘Hey, do you drink wine?’ ” Butler continued. “I’m like, ‘Hell no. I don’t drink wine.’ So I’m looking around and all eyes are on me, and then an individual I was with from the Bulls nudged me. The nudge to me meant, like, ‘Yo, of course you drink wine. Mark Wahlberg’s offering you wine!’ ” Butler tried to play it cool. “ ‘Yeah, I drink. I drink wine here and there,’ ” he said. Wahlberg poured him a glass of 2010 Sassicaia, and Butler thought, “ ‘You know what? This isn’t that bad.’ ”