In this informal, on‑camera interview, NBA star Jimmy Butler III shares his experiences while touring Mexico after a game. He jokes about drinking tequila, sampling local foods—including fried crickets—and reflects on the challenges of playing at high altitude. Butler praises the enthusiastic Mexican crowd, noting that the arena surpassed 500 fans, and expresses excitement about basketball’s rising popularity in the country, even comparing it to his love for soccer. He also discusses the cultural atmosphere, fan interaction, and his willingness to try more local delicacies on future visits. The conversation blends humor, personal anecdotes, and broader observations about basketball’s global growth.
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Make sure we hit that too. I need that tequila. How are you? Good, you man? Good, I'm good. You did that right, am I wrong? Do we get a third bottle? There it is. Professional. Can I take your luggage? That's how we're drinking that? What? This whole shot? I mean, no, but— Actually a pretty good pour. It's pretty even. I don't know who else took it, but I'm not gonna keep it. You based in New York? Yeah. That doesn't get too much, right? Right. At the Black House? Yeah. I didn't get on the mirror. Yeah, you— I did. You like this? Mm-hmm. I was, and then I thought about it. That's hard. Yeah, it was, yeah. You know, I ain't trying to take a type. It sounded good. It sounded like, yo, we're together and let's take shots. It never goes the way I plan it out. Yeah. Man, that's spinach. Man. Is it that much? Is it just crunch? Is there cricket in it? No. Yes or no? No. Which one's the one? Cricket, cricket. What's in the green? Ninguno. Ninguno? Please don't have them yet. Please don't have them yet. Oh, you don't have them yet. Here we go. Oh man, I'm getting bored. Don't— oh, you dropped one. What does it taste like? Chicken? What? Would you eat that? He said he don't eat burger. I'm not into bugs. I'll be like, that's a cockroach. I'll have one, just like— but it just tastes like— since it's fried, I have a theory that you could fry shoelaces. You could eat them? And they would taste like— nice seasoning, they'll be like Y'all remember in Portland last year, right? Oh, man. In Portland last year? With him? Tyler and Nurk. When I got the video? Holy shit, I remember this story! I think that basketball has grown worldwide, especially here in Mexico. And you know, football is the biggest thing in the whole world, so if basketball could get anywhere near that level for the global standpoint of things, It's gonna be great. But it's just, it's so cool to see that so many people here love basketball as well. I still say that football is my favorite sport. So, you know, maybe after my basketball at Flamingo, basketball in the NBA, I'll go play for Santos and kick the ball around. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Let's give this a shot. Let's see what happens. Yeah, let's see. Were you going to read it or you just showing the screen? Latte, so the latte, the avena. Hola. Hola. Avena latte. Okay, you guys want me to choose? Um, avena latte. Almendra y soya. Oh my God, it's— Oh, yeah, the sword. I heard that. Solo? No habana? No habana, no. Okay. Un americano. How'd it look for you? It looked good and everything. Oh my God. Shit hot. It's always good to win. Yes, I'm glad that we could get over 500, but for sure glad that we could get over 500 here in front of you guys. I just think the atmosphere here is unreal, man. Seeing all the kids smiling, all the fans smiling. It means the world to me because basketball is growing globally. I love football. I would tell you that's probably my favorite sport, soccer. But if basketball is catching up to football in this country, basketball is doing something right. Mexico, we outta here. I tell y'all what, we gonna go through a U-turn. Mexico, just like that, we outta here. We appreciate it. We are here, we're in the building. Thank you for all the love and support. Um, got us over 500. Until next time, cheers! Thank you, same goal on the last time. Jimmy, Cristina Fernandez for Icon. Uh, from the food that you tried, what would be like the thing that you like the most? And do you think altitude affects the game in some way? Food that I tried, food or beverage? 'Cause I had some tequila. Okay. Yeah. No, and I had crickets. It wasn't bad. It wasn't bad. I'm not gonna say I'm gonna like line up and just eat 1,000 crickets, but I definitely had that. The altitude was, it was tough. It definitely was. But we talked about it. We weren't gonna use that as an excuse. We needed to win. We had to win and we did just that. So the next time I come back, I'm eating even more crickets so I won't get sick. Good times, good times.
