Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central.
Speaker 2: Please welcome Jimmy Butler. Welcome to The Daily Show.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you.
Speaker 2: What a great time to have you on as well,
Speaker 2: because I mean, you're an amazing basketball player. But then
Speaker 2: today you have been in the news for something that
Speaker 2: happened on the court that got someone thrown off the court.
Speaker 2: It was a little altercation that you had with a
Speaker 2: paces player.
Speaker 1: I didn't start it, though, that's we have to say
Speaker 1: that first. Okay, you didn't stop. You didn't stop. I
Speaker 1: did not start it, right, But it.
Speaker 2: Gets heat to what was interesting is I haven't seen
Speaker 2: many fights in basketball that end with one person blowing
Speaker 2: a kiss at the other person.
Speaker 3: I'll agree with you, I would agree, but but it
Speaker 3: was it really a fight or it was more of
Speaker 3: an alter case? It was an altercation, right, and you
Speaker 3: see altercations and the kisses all the time.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that.
Speaker 2: Is true thin line between love and hate.
Speaker 1: Hmm, that's what that is.
Speaker 2: Do you did you think about the move before you
Speaker 2: did it?
Speaker 1: Was it just in the moments? He was just like
Speaker 1: this is if I say it was in the moment,
Speaker 1: I feel like that's not gonna go over well. So
Speaker 1: I have to say I thought about it now.
Speaker 2: A lot of people were excited about that moment because
Speaker 2: there are many people who feel like the NBA has
Speaker 2: become too tame. You know. Guys are like, oh, there's
Speaker 2: no more fighting, there's no more roughness. You know. You
Speaker 2: hear Shack talking about that. D Wade was like, Oh,
Speaker 2: this is old school Miami paces again. Do you think
Speaker 2: the game like enjoys moments like this where we feel
Speaker 2: like the players are really invested.
Speaker 1: I think so.
Speaker 3: I think so everybody likes something a little different here
Speaker 3: and there, right, And I just feel as though I'm
Speaker 3: that type of player, Like I don't know if I'm
Speaker 3: the best player.
Speaker 1: I can't I can't answer that.
Speaker 3: I can't tell you that, but I know I'm not
Speaker 3: putting up with too many things what people want to
Speaker 3: say say. I think if you just stick to basketball,
Speaker 3: it wouldn't happen. But time and time again, some disrespectful
Speaker 3: stuff happens.
Speaker 2: You say you're not you say you wouldn't say you
Speaker 2: don't know if you're the best player. I would say
Speaker 2: that most people in Miami would say that you are.
Speaker 2: Because when you came to the Miami Heats, the team
Speaker 2: was struggling. I believe in like tenth place right and
Speaker 2: now in the season that you've been there in the East,
Speaker 2: they're in second place now, So I mean you are.
Speaker 1: We're doing okay, we are. What's what's interesting.
Speaker 2: What's interesting is that a lot of people were shocked
Speaker 2: by your decision to move from Philly to Miami. They
Speaker 2: were like, what is Jimmy doing. Philly's got the super
Speaker 2: team and now you moving to a team that doesn't
Speaker 2: have any proven players on why make that decision.
Speaker 3: I mean, for the longest time in this league, I
Speaker 3: wasn't a proven player. So for me to hear and
Speaker 3: know the culture and what goes on when you're a
Speaker 3: part of the Miami Heat organization, it fit me to
Speaker 3: a team I'm allowed to be me. Every single day
Speaker 3: that I'm in a jury, every single day that I'm
Speaker 3: in practice. I get to to talk the way that
Speaker 3: I would like to talk right, act the way I
Speaker 3: would like to act.
Speaker 1: And it's okay.
Speaker 3: And I think we have a great group of guys,
Speaker 3: young guys mixed with vets, and it clicks.
Speaker 1: It works.
Speaker 3: Everybody's so happy that everybody's successful and getting the recognition
Speaker 3: that they deserve.
Speaker 1: That we're going this way. How do you how do
Speaker 1: you work in Miami?
Speaker 2: Though, No, because I've been there, like we've been there
Speaker 2: for the Daily Show, and like every day I was
Speaker 2: just like, I don't want to work. It's just sung,
Speaker 2: it's beach. It's like, how do you stay focused in
Speaker 2: because if I remember correctly, you wake up at like
Speaker 2: what four am? Early?
Speaker 1: Not every day now, but in the in the summertime,
Speaker 1: every single.
Speaker 2: Every single day, and then you were in bed by
Speaker 2: like what nine pm.
Speaker 1: Let's say seven, seven pm. Yeah, so you don't watching
Speaker 1: the Daily Show?
Speaker 3: I record it and I watch it throughout the game.
Speaker 3: You hear me, No, But but for real, how have.
Speaker 2: You remained so focused in life? Because you see a
Speaker 2: lot of young players who get into the league. They
Speaker 2: a lot of money, a lot of money that a
Speaker 2: lot of people aren't used to and you took this
Speaker 2: and you became one of the most disciplined players in
Speaker 2: the league. How do you think you've maintained that focus.
Speaker 3: I find a battle within myself to know if it's
Speaker 3: because I want to continue to get better, yeah, or
Speaker 3: if I'm so scared to go backwards and I don't
Speaker 3: want to go back to being just a kid from Tomball.
Speaker 3: I love where I'm from without a doubt, but I
Speaker 3: don't think just a kid from Tomball would be sitting
Speaker 3: on this show with you. So I want to continue
Speaker 3: to get better, and I think that's why I do it,
Speaker 3: But I get lost. Is it because I do really
Speaker 3: want to get better? Or is it because I'm scared
Speaker 3: of going backwards.
Speaker 2: I feel like that's the theme of your life as well.
Speaker 2: You're one of those people who not only wants to
Speaker 2: become better, not only wants to improve the situation of
Speaker 2: your life, but you do that for people around you.
Speaker 2: One thing you'll always hear about Jimmy Butler no matter
Speaker 2: who you speak to in the league, people who know you,
Speaker 2: they go, he has the biggest family you've ever come across.
Speaker 2: And they don't mean like like immediate family, they mean
Speaker 2: like chosen family. You've hired anyone you've met anywhere who
Speaker 2: is amazing, you know, whether it's whether it's drivers or
Speaker 2: trainers or people you just you just brought people into
Speaker 2: your little organization and said, hey, let's grow together as people.
Speaker 2: Why what is it about other human beings that makes
Speaker 2: you want to improve their lives?
Speaker 1: I think that.
Speaker 3: Somewhere down the line on many different parts of my life,
Speaker 3: somebody have given me a chance, whether it be a
Speaker 3: junior college at Marquette, you know, with the Chicago Bulls
Speaker 3: now with Miami that I've come across so many great
Speaker 3: people and I want them to help me be better
Speaker 3: as I help them be better. And when I say family,
Speaker 3: it's like we do everything together. When I have to
Speaker 3: be up at four am, they have to be up.
Speaker 3: Oh wow, yeah, everybody not a game. Everybody, Yes, you do,
Speaker 3: but but that's it. I think everybody loves the work.
Speaker 3: It reminds me of why I do what I do.
Speaker 3: I know that if I'm not the best at what
Speaker 3: I do, I can't continue to make those.
Speaker 1: Guys be the best at what they do.
Speaker 2: You also have an interesting life that many people wouldn't
Speaker 2: know about you. You know, it began in an interesting way.
Speaker 2: But you are a passionate wine collector, and your dream
Speaker 2: is to just like retire on a vineyard, just.
Speaker 1: Like go out there, like grow great and never see
Speaker 1: me again.
Speaker 3: You may be able to see me again via Skype
Speaker 3: or whatever they use nowadays.
Speaker 1: It's just like gonna be you. It's just like doing
Speaker 1: your thing.
Speaker 3: And my family where we're all going and then everyone's
Speaker 3: gonna be picking the grapes.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, except for me. I don't work way too hard.
Speaker 1: I gotta put my feet up and enjoy it. Why wine, though,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I feel like wine.
Speaker 3: To me is a lot like people in the sense
Speaker 3: that it tells a different story, every bottle, every vintage,
Speaker 3: every year.
Speaker 1: And the more.
Speaker 3: People that I come across, and I learn so much
Speaker 3: about different people in different cultures.
Speaker 1: Yeah, wine for.
Speaker 3: Me, you might get a little buzz from it, but
Speaker 3: that never hurt.
Speaker 1: It's the best. It tells the story it does.
Speaker 2: I know that you celebrated the birth of your son daughter,
Speaker 2: the daughter. Congratulations, congratulations, Yes, so I know.
Speaker 1: So you celebrated.
Speaker 2: You celebrated the birth of your daughter, and it was
Speaker 2: a big moment for you. You didn't even play in the games,
Speaker 2: like a lot of people would still go play. You're like, no,
Speaker 2: I'm out. You know, Miami Heat will have to play
Speaker 2: without me. I'm going to be there with my child.
Speaker 2: Did you have a special bottle of wine for that occasion?
Speaker 2: Because I know like wine collectors have the everyone goes
Speaker 2: like there's a wine for every occasion. Was there a
Speaker 2: wine that you was special enough for you to open
Speaker 2: for having a child.
Speaker 3: I was in a hospital, so I didn't really know
Speaker 3: if you were supposed to.
Speaker 1: Be drinking in the hospital. So, uh no, I can't.
Speaker 3: Say that there's a special bottle. It was just it
Speaker 3: was a special moment, right. It really put a lot
Speaker 3: of things in perspective to think that, you know, it
Speaker 3: was I don't know what to call it, the next
Speaker 3: of age player in Miami after the great Dwayne Wade, YadA, YadA, YadA,
Speaker 3: and I missed my opening nights rights and so I
Speaker 3: was called him like, oh man, I really love basketball,
Speaker 3: and I really love.
Speaker 1: My family, and I'm about to have a daughter and
Speaker 1: be a father. What do I do?
Speaker 3: And I called Coach Bo and he was like, all right,
Speaker 3: well we'll see you in a couple of days. Go
Speaker 3: to the hospital. And it made it easy for me.
Speaker 1: That is really amazing.
Speaker 2: I'm excited for what the future is gonna bring. I
Speaker 2: know you guys are playing the paces again, so we'll
Speaker 2: see where the kiss takes us.
Speaker 1: I know you guys are gonna handle it on the call.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for being on the show.
Speaker 1: Should be Butler, thank you show.
Speaker 2: Me Buffler, everybody from the Miami Heat.
Speaker 1: Mike Yes, tonight is an On Tripreneill, three time.
Speaker 2: NBA champion and twelve time All starf now playing his
Speaker 2: sixteenth and final season for the Miami Heat.
Speaker 4: Please welcome, do one world.
Speaker 2: Welcome.
Speaker 3: Awesome.
Speaker 4: Man, Wow, I feel like we had the American airlis Arena.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Man, this is Look at this, man, this is all you.
Speaker 1: Welcome, Welcome to the show. Thank you, Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for making the time.
Speaker 2: I mean, I like everyone wants a piece of Dwayne
Speaker 2: Wade down in Miami.
Speaker 1: We're so lucky to get you.
Speaker 2: Let's just jump straight into what is a culmination of
Speaker 2: one of the most prolific sporting careers people have ever seen.
Speaker 1: This is your final season in the NBA?
Speaker 4: Is it is?
Speaker 1: It? Is? It surreal for you every game you play.
Speaker 4: First of all, thank you for thanks for having me
Speaker 4: on the show. I appreciate it. Thank you. You know what,
Speaker 4: And I've been I've been playing a game of basketball
Speaker 4: since I was five years old. I am now thirty six.
Speaker 4: I've been playing for thirty one years. So this is
Speaker 4: what I've mastered, right, this is what I've been good
Speaker 4: and great at. So it definitely. It definitely is a
Speaker 4: little nerve wrecking. You know, you're a little nervous because
Speaker 4: I don't know if I'd be great at anything else,
Speaker 4: like I am basketball, right, But you know, I just
Speaker 4: decided after long summer, you know, of really thinking about
Speaker 4: how I wanted to see my career. In getting opportunity
Speaker 4: last year to come back to Miami, I just felt, yeah,
Speaker 4: I felt I felt the timing was perfect for me.
Speaker 4: I don't want people to think I'm retiring because I
Speaker 4: can't play no more. I just want people to understand
Speaker 4: I'm retiring because I'm ready to walk and do something
Speaker 4: different now because I can't play the game of basketball.
Speaker 2: I I came out and watched my my fresh Miami
Speaker 2: Heat game and you playing, and to see the love
Speaker 2: in the crowd was amazing. But what's also interesting is
Speaker 2: to see how that love follows you off the court
Speaker 2: as well. You You, you're somebody who has had the
Speaker 2: opportunity to engage in business opportunities beyond just basketball. You
Speaker 2: You're you're you're a mogul now, I mean you you're
Speaker 2: involved in clothing. You you know, you're involved in your
Speaker 2: own shoe line. You have ties, you have socks, you have, luggage,
Speaker 2: you have like Dwayne Wade, seems like it doesn't seem
Speaker 2: like you're gonna be struggling.
Speaker 1: To do anything when you leave the NBA.
Speaker 2: What do you enjoy about being in business?
Speaker 4: What I enjoy about is, first of all, you know,
Speaker 4: just being a young kid from the nacity of Chicago.
Speaker 4: My dream was to play Chateau. Okay, my dream was
Speaker 4: to play in the NBA. And once I got opportunity
Speaker 4: to get here, then so many doors opened for me,
Speaker 4: and I was able to step through those doors and
Speaker 4: learn different things that I never really thought that I
Speaker 4: had the passion for or the knowledge for. So I've
Speaker 4: been able all these things that I've been a part of,
Speaker 4: this thing stuff I went to school for. You know,
Speaker 4: this is stuff that I either had, you know, I've
Speaker 4: learned through traveling or I've learned through meeting people that
Speaker 4: oh I like that, Oh let me think about doing that.
Speaker 4: So all these things that I'm that I'm doing, I've
Speaker 4: picked up along the way of just living life and
Speaker 4: going places that being open to new things. So I
Speaker 4: enjoy it, you know, I enjoy being able to use
Speaker 4: my creativity to have an amazing team behind me, to
Speaker 4: be able to use their create creativity and be able
Speaker 4: to hopefully give the consumers, give my supporters, give the fans,
Speaker 4: you know, something that they love and enjoy as well.
Speaker 4: So that's what I'm trying to do.
Speaker 2: Right and you're you're doing it a thousand times over.
Speaker 2: You have you have the business, you have the basketball,
Speaker 2: and a large part of Dwayne Wade has been getting
Speaker 2: involved in the community. You know, you've mentioned a few
Speaker 2: times now coming from Chicago, growing up in Chicago. You know,
Speaker 2: as many of us know, we've been on a journey
Speaker 2: with you as fans where we've gone through the ups
Speaker 2: and downs of Chicago. In your life, you know, losing
Speaker 2: loved ones to gun violence was a really tough time.
Speaker 4: For many people.
Speaker 2: I'm sure you the most. When you when you look
Speaker 2: at that journey and when you when you look at
Speaker 2: what you want to do now in both Chicago and Miami.
Speaker 2: You have a few initiatives that you're working on. Now,
Speaker 2: what is your dream? What are you trying to implement
Speaker 2: in the communities to try and help people.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So when I was when I was a little kid,
Speaker 4: you know, I just remember, you know, I always saying
Speaker 4: to myself, if if God blessed me with an opportunity
Speaker 4: to to make it right, to to be able to
Speaker 4: give back to others. I want to do it. I
Speaker 4: want to do it in a big way, you know.
Speaker 4: I want to. I want to be able to bless
Speaker 4: communities in a way that it's going to change their
Speaker 4: lives if I get that opportunity. And once I got
Speaker 4: the opportunity, I wanted to live right, you know, I
Speaker 4: want to. I want to do what I said. So,
Speaker 4: you know, in Chicago, first, from my mother's standpoint, I say,
Speaker 4: you know what, my here's a church. You do your
Speaker 4: part with the church. I bought my mom at church
Speaker 4: early on so she can continue to.
Speaker 1: Save lives church.
Speaker 4: I bought my mom at church.
Speaker 1: That's all.
Speaker 4: That's a whole nother story how we got to that point.
Speaker 4: But I ended up at my mom at church and
Speaker 4: I said, you do your job to you know, to
Speaker 4: save lives. And my mother is an amazing pastor in
Speaker 4: the city of Chicago. My dad, my dad is into
Speaker 4: the community. My dad it does amazing That's why I
Speaker 4: got it from and watched my dad for so many
Speaker 4: years give back to the community. You had me out
Speaker 4: there as a kid, even though we didn't have a
Speaker 4: lot of things we had we had to give, giveaway,
Speaker 4: give to others. If I had two pair of shoes,
Speaker 4: I only end up having one because I gave the
Speaker 4: other pair aways. So I kind of had a family
Speaker 4: that I've watched my whole life kind of make sure
Speaker 4: they give. And we didn't have a lot. We didn't
Speaker 4: have a lot at all, but what we had was
Speaker 4: more than what others had, and so we wanted to
Speaker 4: make sure that we can, you know, we can give
Speaker 4: to the others. So it kind of started from there.
Speaker 4: And then when I got to college, my college coach
Speaker 4: always told me, you always said, Duane, too much as
Speaker 4: given much as required, too much as given much as required.
Speaker 4: And I know what he meant at the time, And
Speaker 4: then once I got older, I still understand what that means.
Speaker 4: I've been given so much and a lot that is
Speaker 4: required of me. It's required of me, and not only
Speaker 4: to give from my pockets, but to lend my voice,
Speaker 4: to lend my face, to stand up on this platform
Speaker 4: and support and talk about so all those things.
Speaker 1: That's something you haven't been afraid of doing.
Speaker 2: You know, there are a lot of athletes who have
Speaker 2: been afraid of lending their voice to causes that they
Speaker 2: believe in, on people that they support. You know, your
Speaker 2: good friend, basically your brother, Lebron James, is somebody that
Speaker 2: you've been on a journey with for many years where
Speaker 2: you've been speaking about issues. We've seen you at sports ceremonies.
Speaker 2: We've seen you with the Parkland kid friends. Parkland kids
Speaker 2: friends that you spent three hours with them the first
Speaker 2: day they came back to school.
Speaker 1: Why do you think, why do you think.
Speaker 2: As a as an athlete's as an athlete, why do
Speaker 2: you think it's so important for you to step out
Speaker 2: from beyond the game and to engage in ideas that
Speaker 2: you believe in?
Speaker 4: Well, you know, going back to that, we was in
Speaker 4: Philadelphia when we heard the news about what happened, and
Speaker 4: I didn't know exactly where it was at. And immediately,
Speaker 4: as a parent, I got scared because I have kids
Speaker 4: in school, and I knew it was what area was in,
Speaker 4: but I didn't know which school. So immediately I'm scared. Right,
Speaker 4: I'm the hardest racis. I'm being fast. I'm trying to
Speaker 4: call my kids, and eventually I got on the phone
Speaker 4: with my kids and I realized that they was okay,
Speaker 4: But then I knew that other parents out there was
Speaker 4: hurting the same way that I was hurting, was feeling
Speaker 4: that same anxiety. So once we got a as a
Speaker 4: come back to the city, it was just like, Hey,
Speaker 4: can I go to the school? Can I go up
Speaker 4: there and visit? And I don't know what I'm gonna do,
Speaker 4: but I just want to be able to bring some
Speaker 4: sort of light. I had just got back to the city.
Speaker 4: The city of Miami had welcomed me back with open
Speaker 4: arms when I got traded back, and I wanted to
Speaker 4: bring some light. So I had an opportunity to go,
Speaker 4: and I didn't know what to expect. It was real
Speaker 4: quiet when I got there, but man, when the kids
Speaker 4: saw me, it just opened them up. The light in
Speaker 4: their eyes, the housing their faces. That right there was
Speaker 4: one of the biggest, one of the most important moments
Speaker 4: in my life of you know what what basketball has
Speaker 4: done for me and the platform that I have, this
Speaker 4: is what it's about. And I got an opportunity to
Speaker 4: sit down in the room with their leaders and talk
Speaker 4: to him about, Hey, what can I do, what can
Speaker 4: my team do to help support you guys initiative? What
Speaker 4: you're trying to do. And it started from you know what,
Speaker 4: my voice. Then it went from the support financially and
Speaker 4: so forth and so on, and we could see you
Speaker 4: to do things. We did exhibits here in Miami and
Speaker 4: New York, in LA we could see you to support
Speaker 4: because this is my community, this is our community, and
Speaker 4: it means a lot to us.
Speaker 2: As you can tell, the people love you as much
Speaker 2: as you love them.
Speaker 1: Duane Wade.
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