An NBA Player's Pandemic Side Hustle Turned Into A Luxury Coffee Brand

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The COVID-19 pandemic caused a major shift in how the world operated. For the NBA, this resulted in the establishment of the NBA Bubble, a bio-secure campus created to keep the season going where journalists and players ate, slept, and lived basketball. During this time, NBA star Jimmy Butler began what would become Bigface coffee from his Orlando, Florida hotel room at Walt Disney World. Though its beginnings were humble, Butler's Bigface brand has found success as one of the best celebrity coffee brands in the business. 

During the NBA's 2019 to 2020 bubble season, Butler found himself with little to get his mind off basketball in his downtime. Inspired by the limited and unimpressive coffee options at the NBA campus, Butler pooled his resources, including the coffee he had on hand, a French press, and a pour-over from home. Then he got to bean brewing. From what was essentially a bare-bones, pop-up cafe in his hotel room, Butler offered an impressive menu of several coffee types, including lattes, cappuccinos, and macchiatos. Aware of the wealthy clientele living in the bubble with him, Butler sold his coffee at the cash-only cost of $20 a cup, no matter the size or style of beverage. By 2021, Butler officially established Bigface, a brand name referencing the slang term for $100 bills and cheekily insinuating that the cost of his coffee would leave his bubble patrons with nothing but hundreds to spend on future cups. 

Bigface began with mugs and NFTs when Butler first opened his business on Shopify. Today, Bigface offers apparel, brewing accessories, and packaged coffee beans from both multi-origin and isolated origins. The beans are sourced from farms in Colombia, as well as other leading coffee regions, including Honduras, Ethiopia, and El Salvador. Bigface's simple yet trendy package design, developed in collaboration with Zenpack and Brandmonger, was awarded third place in the tea and coffee category at the prestigious Dieline Awards in 2023. One year later, it took home gold at the iF Design Awards and received high ratings in a taste test by the New York Times. Bigface is also an inter-industrial collaborator that has partnered with Created Co. for its drinkware and teamed with other industry leaders like Onyx Coffee Labs and Van Leeuwen for limited-time offerings.

True to the brand's legacy, Bigface charges a premium price for its product. Those wanting to get their hands on a bag of Bigface beans will have to pony up anywhere between $30 to $40 before shipping. Looking toward the future, Butler has ambitions of owning a mugful of the global coffee market. Currently, Bigface has a flagship store in Miami's Design District, as well as a pop-up at the Mission in San Francisco (Butler plays for the Golden Gate Warriors) from January to mid-April 2026, where patrons can grab a cup for between $4 to $10.