Jimmy Butler set the bar low when he appeared on Hot Ones. The Sixers star said that hot food “Isn’t me,” and looked trepidatiously at the bounty of mouth-singeing sauces, and he was right to be afraid.
Jimmy Butler struggled with the first wing on ‘Hot Ones’ before turning into an absolute champion
His NBA stories were magic.
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
There was definite pressure on Butler to perform, especially after Joel Embiid killed it. Jimmy Buckets said a prayer, and asked not to pass out during the challenge — and then he dived in.
There were plenty of interesting basketball notes. Butler credited Rip Hamilton, Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich for making him the player he is today — and didn’t pause for a second before saying “Steven Adams” in response to being asked about who sets the toughest screens in the NBA.
I know you’ll watch the video for all that basketball stuff. You’re here for his wing performance. In all honesty, he was great. Butler developed a technique on the back-end of the challenge to take a bite, avoiding his lips and chewing with the side of his mouth to get as little tongue contact as possible. It left him as one of the best performers the show has seen. Able to take down the wings and hold a great conversation.
Easily the best story Butler told was about having a wine night in Italy with several NBA stars. All night they’d waited to drink a 2004 bottle of Petrus, widely considered one of the finest wines in the world. After posing for a photo Carmelo Anthony called off the rest of wine night, swiping the unopened bottle of Petrus and it was never seen again.
Kudos to Jimmy Butler for slaying Hot Ones!
