One of the more memorable moments involving star forward Jimmy Butler in the time leading up to his departure from the Miami Heat came when he hinted that he had lost his joy for the game of basketball.
He spoke about the subject after the Heat lost to the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 2. Butler scored only nine points in the losing effort.
After Butler’s new team, the Golden State Warriors, picked up their fifth win in a row on Friday when they beat the Denver Nuggets, Warriors star Draymond Green seemingly implied that Butler has found his joy in Golden State after he lost it in Miami.
“He was looking for joy,” Green said of Butler. “So I think we’ve all found it, and it’s good for this group.”
Green’s comments come just days after Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had some incredibly lofty praise for Butler. Following a win over the Memphis Grizzlies, he claimed that Butler saved the Warriors’ season.
The team’s success with Butler on the floor this season compared to him off of it supports Kerr’s claim. Without Butler on the court in the 2024-25 campaign, Golden State has a record below the .500 mark at just 25-27.
Conversely, in the 25 games he’s been in the lineup, the Warriors have been an incredibly tough out. Golden State’s record with Butler so far this season is an impressive 21-4, and ironically, the team’s most recent loss that Butler played in came when the Warriors lost to the Heat on March 25.
Butler is averaging 17.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game with the Warriors. His contributions have been key.
The 2024-25 regular season is nearly over, yet where Golden State will end up in the Western Conference standings is still far from being set in stone.
The Warriors are currently the No. 5 seed in the West with a 46-31 record, but they’re just one game back of the No. 3 seed Los Angeles Lakers. On the flip side, Golden State could drop in the standings with a subpar finish to the campaign. The team is only one game ahead of the No. 8 seed Grizzlies with five games left on its schedule.