Golden State Warriors star forward Jimmy Butler will have a chance to take on his old team from South Florida before the end of the 2024-25 regular season. The Warriors are slated to play the Miami Heat on March 25 in what will be a road game for Golden State.
Fans of the Heat will have to wait more than a month for that game, but the 35-year-old has already given some insight into how he’ll approach the contest.
While Butler admitted that he has nothing bad to say about the Heat organization, he also said that he’ll be extra motivated to earn a win against his old squad.
“It’s all love,” he said. “I’ve been in the trenches with Miami for the past six seasons. And like I tell everybody, the way that they wanna beat me and make sure that they beat the Golden State Warriors, I promise you it’s just as personal for me as well. But love those guys over there — great organization. It didn’t end the way that everybody hoped that it would end, but that’s just part of the business of basketball. I don’t have anything bad to say about that organization.”
The Heat shipped off Butler to the Warriors before the trade deadline in a five-team deal that also involved the Utah Jazz, Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors. In giving up one of their better players in franchise history along with some other assets, Miami received forward Andrew Wiggins, forward Kyle Anderson, guard Davion Mitchell and a protected first-round pick.
Butler shouldn’t be shocked if he doesn’t exactly get a warm welcome from Heat fans when his Warriors come to Miami next month. After all, the last month or so of his tenure in Miami was marred by multiple suspensions. He played his final game in a Heat uniform in a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers back on Jan. 21.
But before the Heat focus on coming out on top in their contest against Butler and the Warriors, they should first worry about getting back to their winning ways in the weeks leading up to that game. Miami has struggled quite a bit as of late and is currently amid a four-game skid.
The Heat are also several wins below the .500 mark on the season at 25-28 and sit as the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference. However, Miami will have a shot to win its first game in over a fortnight when it plays the Toronto Raptors on Feb. 21.
