NBA ALL-STAR MEDIA DAY

February 19, 2022

Jimmy Butler

Media Day Press Conference

Q. What are your thoughts on Kyle Lowry?

JIMMY BUTLER: The guy is incredible. We know what he does on the floor, but I just think how he manages everybody on our team in the locker room and making sure the mood is always light, everybody is smiling and happy. I didn't know he was capable of that, but he does a great job for us.

Anything else, just not golf. Literally I can beat Kyle at anything else, just not golf.

Q. What is it like being on opposites sides from Erik Spoelstra?

JIMMY BUTLER: On the opposite side? I'm glad I get to be with a real coach like Coach Monty Williams over here for a change.

No, it's going to be fun. I'm going to talk some trash to him and I can't get in trouble for him because he is the enemy, at least for this weekend, so I'll definitely take advantage of that.

Q. Are you shocked with how quickly Chicago became a destination place?

JIMMY BUTLER: Chicago has always been that. Chicago deserves that. I think the Bulls are legendary. They've got some really, really, really good players. DeMar has been playing out of his mind. He's been doing that for a long time now, as well. But they deserve to win. They deserve a championship just like everybody else does, and like I always tell you, I've got so much love for this city, always will. I'm glad that they're back at the top again.

Q. What have been the keys for the Bulls this season?

JIMMY BUTLER: I mean, anytime you add a player like DeMar to your team, your team is going to get significantly better. They already had a bunch of key pieces to just make it all make sense, and I think they're doing that at an incredibly high level right now. They're playing some of their best basketball that we've seen all year long, and they've been hit with the injury bug. That's what's really crazy.

I think guys do pay attention to it, but when you add really good players to a team, that's what's going to happen.

Q. On drinking coffee.

JIMMY BUTLER: Coffee is great. Had a lot of coffee last night, like literally past midnight, a lot of coffee. We got some nice stuff coming out to us -- for real, some really, really, really good coffee stuff.

Q. Are you treating it as a business again?

JIMMY BUTLER: Did I sell any? No, we're basically just giving a lot away, and I was just tasting a bunch of different stuff. We've got some stuff coming.

Q. Have you been hearing from any Heat teammates?

JIMMY BUTLER: No, I'm not. I'm probably in a group chat now. Those guys are getting on my nerves. They're so happy that I get to be here in Cleveland while it's snowing and everybody else is in the sunshine. So Spo, this is my sacrifice. You always talk about sacrifice, this is my sacrifice; I'm in the snow.

Q. On playing with Kyle Lowry.

JIMMY BUTLER: I get the opportunity to be around greatness every single day, somebody that knows what it takes to win. But more than basketball, like he's just a calm human being in all aspects of life outside of the court, and it's like when everything is moving a million miles per hour, he's just like, just relax, just calm down. It's not that serious.

I really do respect that about him because everybody else is doing all of this overthinking and then Kyle comes to the picture and it's like, everything is going to be fine, calm down, let's go have coffee, let's go sit down and talk. That's what you get when you get a really good basketball player but more importantly a really good person.