Welcome to the Oddball NBA Finals

He’s remained perfectly unbothered most of the way, sort of embodying the “Ehh, if I have to” attitude that most people had when eating the quesarito. He’s also outlasted that product, which was discontinued by Taco Bell earlier this year. When the Nuggets clinched their spot in the Finals, Jokic was named MVP of the Western Conference Finals. He was asked what the honor meant to him, and very politely, responded, “Nothing.” It might be the iciest thing he’s ever done.

On the other side, there’s Jimmy Butler. In many ways, Butler is a more conventional NBA star than Jokic: he’s cool, and evidently loves basketball, and has the rip-your-heart-out attitude we’ve come to expect of Finals participants. He’s not, however, without his own quirks. In recent years these have included the following: the story about him removing the rearview mirror from his car because he doesn’t like living in the past. That’s a LinkedIn post personified. On Wednesday he said the Spice Girls were part of his pre-game routine. His friendship with Mark Wahlberg, with whom he’s been known to drown a bottle of vino, is dudes rock canon. And who could forget when Butler, in the NBA’s pandemic bubble, opened a coffee shop in his hotel room that memorably charged $20 for a cup of drip? In a Thrillist profile with the headline “How NBA Star Jimmy Butler Became a Huge Coffee Nerd,” Butler said during his stay in the bubble “all I could think about was how I could hustle these guys out of their cash.” Incredible. 

His latest addition to the Book of Jimmy is his love of country music, which apparently originated in his desire to troll his teammates by listening to it. Whether it’s the Lukes (Combs or Bryan, and Butler appeared in a music video with the latter) or problematic fave Morgan Wallen, the Heat’s tour de force is listening at full volume. The fact that Butler has also been so forthcoming about his Nickelback standom is really a testament to how comfortable he is in his own skin and how little he cares about the hip, “correct” opinions of cool kid intelligentsia. Being a six-time NBA All-Star and one of the faces of the league while also being a huge Nickelback nerd really lays bare the inner workings of his mind. Jimmy Butler isn’t a nerd—he’s a cool guy, nerd rising. Someone who goes to Fashion Week, looks wonderfully natural strutting around Miami with a cigar and a Cuban hat, but is also intimately familiar with Chad Kroeger’s lyricism? That’s a rare bird. And what better time for that bird to spread its wings than the NBA Finals?

It’s clear that Butler is cooler than Jokic, but pretty much everyone is cooler than Jokic, and that’s the point. We should all hope to gather up interests in this world that are as eclectic as Butler’s. Or, if you’re more into doubling down on the hobbies you picked up as a teenager, it’s possible that you’ve already played against Jokic in League of Legends. Either way, we see you, we hear you, you are valid. Oddballs rejoice, these NBA Finals