When Miami Heat president Pat Riley and Jimmy Butler had their free agent meeting over the summer, Riley apparently poured Butler too much wine.
Butler, who is a wine fanatic, told Riley, “Hey, Coach, come on, man. I don’t need that much,” per Seerat Sohi of Yahoo Sports:
They cracked open bottles of luxury wine, Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon and Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia, Butler’s favorite. Riley poured wine into Butler’s glass, until he stopped him.
“I was a little bit overzealous,” Riley told Yahoo Sports in a phone interview. “I poured too much in it and he said, ‘Hey, Coach, come on, man. I don’t need that much.’ He was right. You don’t pour that much. You just pour enough to where, when you put the wine in the goblet, it’s a nice splash, and what you do is you sniff, and then you sip and you swirl and you swallow.”
“It’s like … he did that,” Riley continued. “He sniffed that wine. He had a little taste. Swirled around a little bit and said, ‘Ah, man, that’s good wine.’”
Butler signed a four-year max deal with the Heat as part of a sign-and-trade deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. Riley had been trying to get Butler to South Beach for years, so the Hall of Famer was happy he was finally able to get Jimmy to Miami.
Butler’s hard-nosed style of play and personality is perfect for the Heat since Riley loves that type of basketball. All the players in Miami have to be aware that Butler won’t be afraid to call them out if he sees something he doesn’t like, and they likely won’t take offense to it.
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