LOS ANGELES — Jimmy Butler wasn’t missing opening night.
That was clear long before Los Angeles Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter introduced the 36-year-old swingman from Tomball, Texas, to a sold-out crowd inside Crypto.com Arena before the Golden State Warriors’ 119-109 win on Tuesday night. Butler, who had missed the final three preseason games after spraining his ankle, made his move back to the starting lineup four nights earlier on Chase Center’s practice floor.
An hour and a half before last Friday’s final preseason game, Butler tipped his hand. In a move former Warriors great Klay Thompson used occasionally throughout his various stints in rehab, Butler went through a workout with Warriors staffers wearing his full home white uniform. As teammates shuffled up and down the steps to the main floor, there was Butler, sweating through his game jersey, testing out an ankle that had been limiting him for a week.
He never looked like a player who wouldn’t be there for his new team. And his coach, Steve Kerr, never sounded concerned that his talented forward wouldn’t be ready. He knows what kind of work Butler puts into his game, and his body, each day.
Butler went off for a team-high 31 points, five rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes Tuesday, going 16-of-16 from the free-throw line and setting a Warriors’ record for most free throw makes by a player in a season opener. Before the game, Kerr set the tone for Butler’s night, and potentially his season, by praising Butler’s work ethic, how much he pushes himself in practice, how he tries to bring young players under his wing and teach them the game. But then Kerr mentioned something that hasn’t always seemed possible at various points through Butler’s likely Hall of Fame career.
“He’s been a dream to coach,” Kerr said. “Every day he communicates with me and we couldn’t be happier with what he’s brought us in terms of that leadership, and veteran influence in the locker room.”
The words could have knocked over a Butler skeptic, given how his stops around a star-crossed 15-year career eventually seem to end. In Chicago, he went from the last guy on the bench to the best player on the Bulls — a nearly unprecedented jump in the span of about five years. During that time, Butler evolved from a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky player who got along with everybody to a talented star who started to isolate himself from various teammates. What frustrated him, at least during parts of his time in Chicago, was that he didn’t feel like some of his teammates, especially some young ones, were putting in the work needed to be successful.
Instead of giving him another contract extension, the Bulls traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2017. He stayed there for a couple years but didn’t fit with the team’s young core of Karl-Anthony Towns or Andrew Wiggins, believing, in part, that the talented duo wasn’t going to put in the work needed to win a championship. After a brief stop in Philadelphia, Butler landed in Miami and finally seemed to find the basketball fit he was seeking. The Heat pride themselves on outworking the opponent, and Butler’s career was built upon outworking everybody. At first, he thrived under the tough love of longtime coach Erik Spoelstra and Heat czar Pat Riley, but that love faded over time and was broken last season when Miami wouldn’t give the proud former All-Star a max contract extension, and the respect that came with it.
Once more, Butler’s professional marriage broke apart. Longtime critics didn’t care where Butler landed next, because they were convinced it would end the same no matter where it was. As the Warriors begin a new year, though, they believe this particular story with Butler will have a different ending. They believe that because their team offers a structure that the proud and confident forward has never had before. They believe that because of the work they see every day — and how that work impacts everybody else around him.
“He’s been a great leader since the day he showed up,” forward Draymond Green said. “We’ve heard all the talk about him last year — and that’s not the guy who showed up to San Francisco. The guy who showed up to San Francisco is the guy we saw tonight.”
The guy the Warriors saw on Tuesday played at a high level on both ends of the floor. As Green went on to note, Butler encourages his teammates. Several players mentioned the way Butler has taken 23-year-old forward Jonathan Kuminga under his wing and helped him evolve his game as an example of that leadership. Green mentioned that Butler lets guys know what he is seeing and offers guidance and that Butler doesn’t let his teammates sulk.
Jimmy Butler had 31 points and made all 16 of his free throws in Tuesday’s win over the Lakers. (William Liang / Imagn Images)
Butler’s critics will see that and roll their eyes. They’ll laugh at the idea that Butler, of all people, is telling teammates to keep their heads up when it was his attitude that pushed several teams to trade him. But the reason this moment with the Warriors feels different now, the reason the breakup potential isn’t nearly as high, is because of two keys that haven’t been in place in Butler’s other stops.
First and foremost, Butler got paid. The Warriors gave him the two-year max extension he was looking for and the respect that came with it. But just below the money is the fact that Butler is finally on a team with two players that he not only respects, but provide the Hall of Fame structure and work ethic that he has always craved: Stephen Curry and Green. The pair, along with Thompson and Kerr, built the culture that has sustained the Warriors’ championship success.
The Warriors offered Butler a chance to perform within a team framework he’s never felt before. And Butler gave the Warriors the type of game-changing star who can take pressure off Curry and the rest of the group.
“I think Jimmy brings a different level of confidence to Draymond and Steph,” Kerr said. “They know now they’ve got a guy who can carry the team every single night. And that gives them a comfort level and a confidence level that maybe has been missing before the trade.”
Butler’s game fills in the gaps for the Warriors. He’s still a very good defender, he can get to the line seemingly whenever he wants, he can control the tempo and he can play off what Curry and Green do so well.
“He just plays good basketball,” Curry said. “Whatever the possession calls for, he sees the floor so well. He’s composed when he has the ball in his hands. You can’t really speed him up. I think he understands what it takes to win, and he doesn’t care what it looks like.”
Butler always said he was all about winning, but sometimes his actions didn’t always back his words. His ego grew over time the same way his game did. He knew what he poured into the game, but he would get frustrated when those around him didn’t put in the same kind of effort. He wanted to believe that young players desired to get better in each one of his stops, but when he didn’t feel the work level was being met, he was quick to look for either different players or a different team.
The Warriors appear to have provided Butler with his dream mix. The right kind of players on a team that already has a proven leadership structure in place. Butler always gave respect to teammates that he felt would live and breathe getting better at the game with him, but the respect he has for Curry and Green is different. For the first time in years, Butler is deferring to somebody else on and off the floor. The respect, he’s learned, cuts both ways. It’s why Green brushed off a question regarding the belief held by some that he and Butler could never coexist long-term.
“I have the utmost respect for an ultimate competitor,” Green said. “And I have the utmost respect for alphas. He’s an alpha. There was kind of this misconception of, ‘Oh, man, Draymond’s an alpha, him and Jimmy are gonna clash.’ But I’ve never seen two alphas clash, because there’s a respect for knowing how you are and what you are, and how you go about things.”
Butler’s detractors will tell you that all the nice words and good vibes are well and good, but it’s still only a matter of time before Butler’s true colors reappear. The track record is the track record, and Butler’s has far too many red flags to think the honeymoon period with a new team will last forever. But this pairing between player and organization seems to have come along at exactly the right time for both parties. It was as if Butler had to go through all of his ups and downs to fully appreciate what he has now with the Warriors. And it feels like the Warriors had to hit near the end of their unbelievable run to even think about adding a player with Butler’s checkered past to their proud team.
But both sides know what they have now. A rhythm that becomes more tangible as each game goes by. After all the years of seeking his fit, Butler knows that a secondary role, without the pressures of being front and center each night, suits him just fine. He has his own theory as to why things have clicked so well for him with the Warriors.
“Because the game’s easy,” Butler said. “Everybody pays attention to Steph. I got the easy job.”
His critics will tell you not to believe what you see. They’ll say, just give it more time. But Butler and the Warriors believe that time is on their side in this case — because the more time they spend together, the more they realize it was what each side needed all along.
